A New Beginning
by natalieiam
Summary: Miriam finally realizes the pain the Big Bob inflicts on Helga. She leaves Hillwood taking Helga with her to start a new life.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: Trust

It happened so fast. And I was a mix of emotions. Miriam, my mom had finally realized that Big Bob was an ass and was leaving him. After saving the neighborhood with Arnold, my secret infatuation, I dreadfully made my way home, knowing that Bob was going to start the verbal abuse and Miriam was probably drunk already. I walked inside and was quickly ushered by Miriam upstairs.

"Mom? Whats going on?" I said as she led me to my room and quickly shut the door. "Honey, I am so sorry. I've been a horrible mother to you and your father's been worse. But its all going to stop. We are going to leave him, not today. Soon, I just need to figure some things out." She hugged me. "But you can't say anything, not even to Phoebe because then its going to ruin everything." I nodded. She gave me another hug and then went downstairs, it was quiet for a few minutes, then I heard the blender. "Yeah, right." I said and grabbed my pink notebook and started writing odes to my beloved.

The months passed and Big Bob's insults continued. The only thing that changed was the look that Miriam gave him. She glared at him when he had his back turned and when I caught her gaze it was full of pain. _Forgive me. Soon, I promise._

Soon came by closer than I thought. It was the day before my birthday. Miriam was still acting drunk around the house. I was in bed, in my favorite pajamas when I heard an argument starting upstairs. "I said no, Miriam!" Bob's yelled echoed. "No?" Miriam echoed. "No? I just want to have a party for her birthday tomorrow and you say no?" "Yes, Miriam. Its a no. No, no, no! She's not worth it and your a sorry excuse of a woman and a mother. A stupid alcoholic. Now, Olga, she is _all _Pataki. Helga is clumsy and stupid I'm sure a Barbie will be enough." "She's turning twelve. She doesn't like dolls, never has and if she did she will still be too old for them. I am sorry excuse of a mother? Well, your a worse father, you don't even know what your daughter likes!" I heard something fall and then my mothers wails. "I have let you do a lot of things Bob, but hitting me! That's the last straw! Im taking Helga, the car and I'm leaving!"

I heard footsteps leaving the kitchen and walking to the stairs. Crap! If this was happening then we were finally leaving Bob! I grabbed my pink notebook and made sure that I had the heart-shape locket and climbed into bed pretending to be asleep. The light flooded the room and Miriam stepped in. "Helga, honey. Wake up. Its almost time for your birthday. I have a surprise for you!" She said excitedly as she grabbed my shoes. She grabbed my hand. "We're leaving tonight!" She whispered. So, the fight was all pretend in order for us to leave. "But—." I didn't finish when she pulled me out of the room with my free hand. She questioned the notebook in my hand but, did not say anything as she ushered me down the stairs. It was a rush of movement getting my coat on as Miriam put her trench coat on and grabbed her purse. "Leave!" Bob's voice echoed from the leaving room where the television was already on. "You'll be back anyways! Your too drunk to realize what your doing, you will crawl back when you run out of money. You will!" Miriam ignored him as she opened the the door of the house and closing it with such force that the windows rattled and we walked to the car.

She opened the passenger door and waited for me to sit before slamming it open. She glanced around the street and I saw a few neighbors still out, it was only a little after nine thirty. She walked around the car, tripping over her feet a few times and then pretending to have problems finding the keys in the pocket of her trench coat, and fumbling to unlock it. I stretched across the car and opened it for her. "Thanks ho-ney!" She said a little too loudly and added a hiccup. She pulled herself in. Once again slammed the door. "Seat belt." She said as she fumbled with the shifting gear, then she speed down the street. "Where are we going?" I asked when she lowered the speed. "Far away from Hillwood. I took Bob's money. All of it. But we have to ditch the car. We have to disappear or he'll force us back and it will be worse." She turned on the radio to some Christian music, lowering the volume and humming the songs. "Honey, its going to be hard now. But you have to do as I say in order to be free from him. I know that you couldn't say bye to your friends, especially Phoebe. And I'm sorry for that." We were outside of town. On an empty street, a few miles from the highway and the convenience store. She changed the station to a rock station and said, "I'm going to go in and buy alcohol. In a few minutes you go in and try to stop me, tell me I'm drunk. Try to stop me, but you won't succeed. When I say, 'Stop, it. Helga, stop it or you wont get your birthday cake." You'll stop pestering me and run out of the store. Okay?" "Okay." "Open the glove bow and hand me the perfume." I did as she asked. "Hold your breath its going to smell bad." She sprayed the thing around herself, and it smelled like alcohol. Putrid smell. Her hair that was in a pony tail, she let loose and then shook it out to make it disheveled. She took out eye drops and put some in her eyes as she drove slowly on the abandoned street. She blinked a few times and then pinched her cheeks making them red. She sped up again, swiveling a bit on the street and turning up the volume on the station.

She pulled into the station with a loud screech and parked diagonally she reached in the back seat and pulled out a bottle of vodka. It was mostly empty now. "Mom, what are you doing?" "Its just water, Helga." She said as she stepped out of the car and tipping the bottle to her throat, the stench of alcohol was still there. She dropped in on the pavement, half the bottle breaking. A few seconds later I saw her walk to the back of the store. I made myself open the car door and started walking to the store. Halfway there I stopped and questioned Miriam's sanity. _What is she planning?_ After a few seconds of my internal debate, I decided to trust in mom. I opened the door, when did I start calling her mom? I didn't have the chance to answer that as a magazine rack fell to the floor.

"Oops!" Miriam said as she wobbled away from the mess. She approached the counter, practically dropping its over the table. The older fat man, glared at her as she made another rack wobble. "Will this be all?" He asked as he started ringing up the contents. I saw that she had a six pack of beer, half a gallon of chocolate milk, a bag of skittles, a large bag of m&ms, pepto, and a pack of already opened donuts. "What?" Miriam asked. The man glared at her. "He said if that's all mom." "Oh, of course!" "Your total is thirty five with firfty three cents." "Oh, a slushy-hiccup- and is that Indian -hiccup- statue for sale too?" The man stared at her, "What Indian statue?" "What?-hiccup-Doesn't matter and a pack of camels." The man glared at her, "Will that be all?" He asked again, "Yeah, ah no. Wait! Helga do you want something?-hiccup-" "No, mom. Maybe you should take out the beer, you had enough." Miriam glared at me, she turned to the cashier. "Do you have better alcohol?" The man seemed to agree with me. "Has she been drinking?" "Yeah." I said quietly. Her eyes were red and puffy. Her face red, with a bruise starting to form on her jawbone, her hair a mess. "Figures." He muttered as he rang up the balance. "Nope, just beer. Forty with twelve cents." Miriam fondled with her bag. "Hey you didn't add the beer!" "Mom you had enough, lets go!" "Quiet, Helga! I bought you the chips." "Fifty two with twelve cents." The cashier said again. Miriam smiled at him. "Thank you." She said dropping a hundred. "Helga go get the beer. You know what I like." I glared at her. "No." She turned towards me, "Stop acting like a baby, go get the beer. Stop and listen to me or you wont get your birthday cake." I glared at her as I ran towards the back grabbing the case of beer and walking towards her.

"Thanks honey, now go to the car." I did as I was told and walked to the car, not sure what had happened there. I sat in the car, beer case at my feet. I looked up to see Miriam yelling at the cashier. A few seconds later she flicked him off and walked towards the door, tripping and knocking down another rack. She walked out of the store, throwing the pepto back at the entrance splattering it with pink. Mom once again fumbled with her feet as she dumped the groceries in the back seat. "Seat belt." She said as she revved the engine and sped out of the station towards the highway, swerving the car dramatically. A minute or so later, she turned the station back to the christian music and lowered the volume. "You did a great job, honey." She said as she quickly gave me a smile. "Mom where are we going?" It was quiet for a few seconds, "To start a new life. Do you want to eat something, there's milk and some donuts in the backseat." "Okay." I said weakly as I rotated my body and grabbed the milk and the donuts. I offered her some. "No. Thanks." I took a gulp out of it and quietly ate the donuts. "Napkins in the glove compartment." I opened it once again. "Thanks." I said as I cleaned my sticky fingers.

"I bought an apartment, and a car. In a nice neighborhood. The school is only a few blocks away from the complex. There's a lot of things to do there. With time I'm sure you'll like it." I nodded. "Where?" "New Sindo. North Carolina. Small-ish town." "How long until we get there?" "Hmm. Can't say. I made the trip there in two days, but there's no rush. I know! Lets make it a road trip!" "Ok." I said quietly. "Mom, how, uh, how did you buy the apartment and the car?" "I took his money." "Oh." I said quietly. "You did what! He's gonna kill us. He's going to chase us and find us. Oh God, you made it worse." "Relax honey. I got it all covered." She smiled and continued humming with the songs. "Honey, things are going to start changing. Big time. And don't take the Lord's name in vain. Understood." "Yeah, I mean, yes." She smiled. "You can take a nap. I'll wake you up when we get to the next stop." I only manage to nod, suddenly feeling my eyes heavy with sleep.

When I woke up next we were parked next to a cliff, Miriam pacing in front every so often looking around. "Mom." She rushed towards me. "I was trying to let you sleep for a few more minutes." She gave me a hug. "What are we doing here?" I asked. "Step two. And the most difficult. We have to make it perfect or it wont work." I nodded. "Mom, what exactly are we doing here?" I asked. She knelled down. "If I don;t do this he will always look for us. He _will_ chase us to get the money and he _will_ catch us and he _will_ make it worse. Trust me honey, leaving your friends behind and not knowing if you will ever be able to see them is hard. But it wont be forever. I promise. But for now we will fake our own deaths. Were going far away from Hillwood and we're going to live happy there and maybe one day when its all over you can come back to see your friends. But for now we are disappearing. Okay?" I nodded. "Mom what about Olga?" "Olga. Olga is no more, she now goes by Giulia, with a G, I will go by Gwendolyn. Olga was lost in the wild rainforest. News of our death and her missing will reach him soon. Now its getting late, I need to fake this and you can think of a name later." She walked around the back of the car to the trunk and pulled two small suitcases out of the back. She then walked to the back seats and spilled the bag of m&ms, stuffing the skittles into her trench coat. She then walked to the foliage setting the suitcases on the ground and taking off her coat. I walked towards her and opened the smaller of the suitcases putting my notebook and locket inside. I turned back and saw her opening the beer cans and spilling the contents on the trees at the other side. She threw a few of them around the truck. I started doing the same. "Don't spill the beer all in one place, scatter it around so it can dry quickly. And spill some in the back seat. Leave the other case open." I did as I was told. I saw her purse. "Mom, your purse?" She walked to me and opened it. "She looked for her wallet, stuffed with pictures, a few credit cards and some money. She closed sighed and dropped it in the car. "I don't need that. We can take new pictures anyways." She hugged me and then walked again to the trunk where she got more vodka bottles and a few whiskey bottles. "Make sure all the windows are up and locked on all but the drivers side. Then go stand by the suitcases." She broke one of the bottles in front of the car and then grabbed the perfume and broke it open. She walked around the car, expecting her work and then walked around and found a nice sized rock. With some quick maneuvering at the gears she set the rock on the accelerator and jumped out of the car. The car went straight and then disappeared down the cliff. Metal moaning and twisting, windows shattering, a car engulfed in flames and then a loud bang. "Helga and Miriam Pataki just died." I said as I walked towards Miriam, the flames from below flickering on her face. She gave me a small sad smile. We looked down at the destroyed car. No one could survive that, no one.

"Gabbee" Mom turns to me. "Gabby?" "Yeah, I wanna go with the G theme, Giulia, Gwendolyn, Gabbee. I want my name to be Gabbee, with two e's at the end." Miriam, I mean Gwendolyn smiled at me. "Happy Birthday Gabbee!" She said as she threw her arms around me. And for the first time in a long time I hugged my mother back too. "Thanks, mom!"


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold!, so don't sue me. Thanks!

Chapter Two: Long Trip and Bad News Travels Fast

Mom took my hand and let me back to the suit cases. Putting on her trench coat she told me the next part of the plan. "Its a twenty minute down the trail, then we get the car that I hid. Once we get to New York, well stay at a nice hotel. Sleep in, have breakfast, shower and continue like that to New Sindo." She fumbled with the large suitcase and pulled out two flash lights. Handing me one she said, "Don't drag the suitcase, hon."

"Ok." I said as I picked up one of the suitcases, making sure to pick up the suitcase and started following her to the trail. They were quiet for most of the hike and it seemed to be getting colder. She was thankful that the weather wasn't worse considering it was late march. Eventually the trail ended and I found myself on a country road. The suitcase was in the middle of the road a few meters up ahead of me, I walked over to it and saw my mom uncovering something with branches and leaves. I dropped the suitcase next to hers and walked over to her to help her. Covered by foliage was a red scion. She grabbed the suitcases and put them in the back and then ushered me in to the passenger seat. She turned on the car and I saw her smiling as we pulled the car out of its hiding place on onto the rocky road.

She fiddled with the car radio and a soft melody filled the car.

"_...Like a skyscraper, like a skyscraper_

_Go run run run I'm gonna stay right here  
>Watch you disappear yeah<br>Go run run run yeah it's a long way down  
>But I'm closer to the clouds up here<em>

_You can take everything I have  
>You can break everything I am<br>Like I'm made of glass  
>Like I'm made of paper<br>Ohh  
>Go on and try to tear me down<br>I will be rising from the ground  
>Like a skyscraper, like a skyscraper<br>Like a skyscraper, like a skyscraper"_

It was such a sad song and perfect to the situation that I had been living in. I was ripped by his insults, the never ending comparison to the older, perfect daughter. But now it seemed that my—our lives were being rebuild. _"Like a skyscraper."_ The girl's voice finished my thought. By the end of the song we were on a paved road again, another song playing softly. "You can try to take another nap, I'll wake you up when we get to the hotel." "I'm not sleepy." I said. "Okay, hungry?" "Nope." I said as I turned to the window.

Eventually I must have dozed off because mom shook me awake. "Helga, I mean Gabby, honey wake up." She nudge me. I opened my eyes to see her smiling at me from her seat. "Are we there yet?" I asked as I looked around, we were at a gas station and mom had changed clothes, she was now wearing a turtle neck red sweater with a gray skirt, black heals. She had never dressed with fitted clothes and frankly she looked good in them. She had set some dark blue tights and a skirt for me to wear, a pair of Ugg boots and a oversized brown sweater. "Take your bow off and put it in the glove compartment, it will be safe there." Nodding and without needing further prompt, I took off my pajama bottoms and started undressing in the car as she went to pay for gas. Once dressed I carefully set the pink bow in the glove compartment over some smaller boxes and joined her at the store.

"Mom can I get something to drink?" I said as I walked in. She smiled to me. "Sure honey. Do you need to use the restroom?" "Yeah, down the hall." The cashier said as he handed something to my mom. "I'll fill it up and come back to pay for her things." My mom said as she started to make her way to the door. I went down the hall and was thankful to see that the restroom was clean. I emerged and I looked at the beverages, I didn't want a soda to drink and much less milk. I eventually found myself in front of the coffee and hot beverage machines. Grabbing a midsize cup I filled it with hot chocolate and grabbed a box of Twinkies and made my way to the cashier.

My mom came back in, calmly walking towards us. No one would be able to compare this confident mother with the stumbling drunk hours ago. "Is that all?" She asked. "Yup!" I said. My mom smiled to the cashier. "Can you add another large coffee?" She said as she walked towards the back and made a large cup adding sugar and half and half before joining me at the register. "Seventeen twenty-seven." The man said. My mom smiled at him and pulled out a twenty. "Wait, did you add the Tennessee map?" "Yes m'am." "Thank you, and keep the change." We walked out to the car and I only asked, "Tennessee?" "Yup. We're visiting your grampa John and grandma Mae." "But I don't have grandparents and I thought we were going to—." "Exactly." She said as she steeped inside the car." Seatbelt." I said as soon as she opened her mouth. She chuckled.

The so called two day trip took twice as long. We stayed several nights at a few hotels, not too fancy and not disgusting. We stopped at a Walgreen's and bought hair dye. Mom chose a chestnut brown for her hair and she let me choose the color. "No pink." She warned. I made a face but, choose a copper brown. She dyed my hair first and while I showered she dyed her hair. I guess we had a spa day that day. I reluctantly agreed to get a hair cut and that was all she needed to take out the tweezers and making two perfectly arched brows, she painted my toe nails and painted my fingernails. "You don't need make up, your too young." Aftew the 'makeover' she pulled me into the restroom where we looked completely different. Mom's boring bob was now trendy. It was shorter in the back then at the front. And she now had straight bangs. She had ditched the glasses and now wore contacts that she had hidden in the new car glove compartment. My hair was no longer in pigtails, it was now parted to the side and I had side bangs. We looked good and without our blonde hair and the bright bow, we were going to blend right in with the crowd.

We spent a lot of time listening to music, eventually I figured that we had satellite radio and found a alternative station that we both liked. The rest of the time we talked about a lot of things and of nothing at all. My mom for the first time, without any interruptions or comparisons from him, got to know me. It was fun. We even had a movie night, after shopping for new clothes and a few necessities like toothpaste and toothbrushes. We saw her favorite movie _The Breakfast Club _and we watched my favorite movie _Finding Nemo. _On the third night I had my breakdown.

We had just finished eating, Gwendolyn was taking a shower—I was now forcing myself to call her that, mentally and out-loud—and surfing the channels when his face was on the national news. "Mom!" I yelled, "Mom!" I turned up the volume as she came out of the bathroom with wet hair and a robe. "News!" I said turning to fave the television.

The anchorman said flashing pictures of Hillwood and Big Bob._"Tonight, a father with a missing daughter and mourns the death of his wife and youngest daughter."_ "Good evening, JTNews own Mariah William has the first response of Hillwood, Connecticut response to a local death." The man said and then was cut to a woman. _"Thank you, Michael. Early morning two days ago, a local business man, Big Bob Pataki was informed that his wife Miriam and youngest daughter Helga were in a car accident. He was devastated and informed the town mayor. Local and state officers were sent to the scene of the accident where they found the remains of a car. No remains have yet been found and earlier today Big Bob Pataki gave this statement: "I have always relayed on my gut feeling in business and in my personal life, and with a heavy heart I know that my precious daughters and wife are no longer in this world." The last people who saw Miriam Pataki reported her seeing her drunk, a cashier outside of this town had a confrontation with the woman and reported seeing the young girl, Helga distressed about her mothers drinking. Bob Pataki also reported his philanthropists daughter missing in the wild forests of Salvador doing missionary work. He stated, "Olga died doing what she loved." This strategy has not only affected the Pataki's but also the neighborhood where they lived. The local kids where in shock and disbelief when they heard of the accident. Helga, just hours shy of turning twelve will always be embedded in the hearts of Phoebe Heyerdahl, Gerald Johanssen and Arnold Shortman, Helga Pataki's best friends, who are holding a vigil at the Shortman residence tonight. From a changed town, once free from tragedy and with the innocent hope of children for a friends safe returm. Mariah William reporting from Conneticut. Back to you Michael."_

"Its going to be okay, honey. It worked, he thinks we're dead." She said trying to give me a hug. "So do my friends! They think I'm dead!" I felt the tears in my eyes. " Phobe, my best friend! She's grieving me, she thinks I'm dead. The whole neighborhood thinks I'm dead. Dead! Oh and Arnold, he lost his parents in the jungles of San Lorenzo, now Olga is missing and he thinks I'm dead. They are in pain thinking that I'm dead while here I am taking a vacation." I was sobbing uncontrollably slobbering. "The whole town thinks were dead!" I was slumped against the couch. "Honey! Helga, honey!" I know its hard but, we will go back. Will go back when its safe. And we will apologize, no one will blame you for listening to your mother." "But—." "But nothing! The whole neighborhood new I was drinking, the whole neighborhood could hear and see the insults of that man! They knew that we were in pain but, not one, not one of them stepped in to help us. Honey, its going to be hard. Real hard. Are you listening to me?" I nodded. "We're starting a new life, a life free of pain, so try to be happy. Well worry about Hillwood when we go back—when its safe."

Four hundred miles away an Asian girl, a black boy with tall hair, and a boy with an odd shaped head were sitting in a room. "He gave up on her." Arnold said quietly as he turned the television off. "That ass." Phoebe said. "What type of person does that?" Gerald asked to no one. "A person with no heart." Arnold spat.

A few days ago they heard of the news of the Pataki accident from Gerald. Phoebe had wondered why Helga didn't show up at school, her birthday gift safely in her backpack as she and Arnold walked to his house to pick up Helga's forgotten present this morning. Arnold had a mix of emotions towards the confusing Helga, at sometimes sweet, funny, caring girl who also portrayed classic bully characteristics. Arnold rushed up the steps of the boarding house as Phoebe waited outside for him. A screech was heard as Arnold was walking downstairs. He rushed down and saw grandpa Phil and grandma Gertie trying to calm down Phoebe at the foyer. Gerald was holding her. "No! No! No! Its a lie! Gerald, tell me its a lie!" Phoebe pushed herself away from him and fell to her knees and crying uncontrollably. Everyone turned to Gerald, "What happened?" Gertie asked.

Gerald looked to the floor, gathering his courage. "My dad, my dad told me that there was an accident down by Goldmeadow cliff. He said it was registered to Big Bob and that it was completely destroyed." He was quiet for a second. "And?" Arnold question ignoring the lump in his throat. "And he said that Mrs. Pataki must have been in the car and that they might be dead." Gerald rushed. Everything was quiet and then another uncontrolled wail filled the room as Phoebe started crying, "Helga, no no no no!" Finally Phil took pity on the poor child and took her out of the room followed by Gertie, "We're going to need a lot of tea. Eleanor, why why why her?" She said muttering to herself and walking towards the kitchen.

Arnold looked to his best friend. "Tell me. What are the chances that she survived?" Gerald awkwardly rubbed his arm. "Not enough. The car was completely destroyed after it fell from the cliff. They said that Helga's mom was drunk." "Thanks for telling me. I gotta go." Gerald nodded. "Take care man. I'm gonna stop at Phoebe's to let her parents know. I am real sorry that I told you so bluntly." "Its ok." Arnold said, Gerald nodded, knowing that the neighborhood was never really going to be the same without Helga G. Pataki. 

Authors Note:

Song: _Skyscraper _by Demi Lovato.

Thanks for reading my story. I know it may be a little confusing and I can only plead to bare with me until the story picks up momentum. I promise to write more and to eventually get the girls back to Hillwood. Until then lots of love! Reviews, comments, questions, suggestions welcome but, not required. ;)


	3. Chapter 3

Authors Note: I would like to thank looneytunecrazy, my first reviewer. Thanks! Also Njay, love your comment and DarkAngel886. Thanks for being my first three reviewers!

Chapter Three: The News and A Welcome Sign

Arnold didn't notice the worried glance that Gerald gave him as he left. News of the accident was probably spreading like wildfire, Hillwood being such a small town. He started to walk to the kitchen where he saw his grandparents quietly talking outside of the kitchen, they quickly quiet down as he approached them. Granpa Phil said something and lay his hand on his shoulder but, I shrugged it off as I stepped into the kitchen and saw Phoebe slumped against the chair.

"It has to be a lie. Next thing you know is that she'll come barging in calling me football head and expecting presents." Phoebe laughed sadly, "I guess that's why she was in love with you." It was quiet for a second. "But I know that she's dead. She wouldn't have missed school on her birthday. Not on yet another day where she was made to suffer. He would just ignore her like always, or worse remember and insult her. Miriam would be too drunk to remember her birthday. But Helga would pretend she didn't care. Pretend that the words didn't cut her deep."

Arnold had no idea of what Helga when through. He heard the grown ups talking about Helga's parents but always quiet down when they realized that children where around. If only he had known that she was suffering, maybe Arnold could have done something, anything to help her out. It was quiet for a few minutes, Arnold in remorse and guilt while Phoebe was lost in her thoughts before standing up. "I should go home. Helga must be trying to call me. And if she hasn't I know that she must be dead." "Phoebe—." Arnold started and for the first time his optimism had left him, _what if she doesn't call_. Phoebe shook her head not wanting to hear it, "Save it Arnold! I'm going home. I'll see you at school and let you know if, I mean when, when she calls."

Before Arnold could stop her, Phoebe had ran out of the kitchen, knocking something from the hall as the door of the boarding house was slammed close. Phoebe ran out of the boarding house, not stopping when she knocked into Harold, who lost his balance and was on the sidewalk. "Phoebe!" He yelled to deaf ears. She ran to her house, crashing into her parents. Pushing away from their attempts of the comfort she ran to her room. She crawled into her bed, pulled the covers over her clothes and shoes and started to silently cry for the disappearance of her best friend.

Down the street, the news of Helga and Miriam's disappearance was indeed spreading like wildfire. Mr. Johanssen, who happened to be friends with Rhonda's parents, Buckley and Brooke Lloyd, told them about the accident. With Brooke and Miriam being close friends, the officer thought that it was prudent to notify them of the accident. Rhonda had overheard the news and quickly told Nadine, Lila, and Sheena. Eventually news reached Harold, while working at Green Meats. Harold quickly realized why he had seen Phoebe so devastated.

A few blocks away, Arnold wasn't doing much better than Phoebe. He was forced to stay for dinner my his grandparents. After just moving the food from one side of his plate to the other, he excused himself and went up to his room. Almost robotic, he had changed into his pajamas before crawling into bed. He lay on his bed looking up at his skylight, it was still early and he wished that he could fall asleep and pretend that this was all a nightmare. Eventually the sky darkened from its orange hue and revealed the stars. After hours laying in bed, sleep fell upon him.

Back at the Pataki residence, instead of finding a broken man, who had lost his wife and daughter, a man is quietly drinking. Taking another sip of his scotch, Big Bob couldn't hold the smirk in. "You finally did something right!" He said to a picture of a younger Miriam. On his desk layed the life-insurance papers that he had taken out on Miriam Pataki. Sure he had seen it as a waste of money every month but, now he was so thankful. He was going to be rich. Rich! When he heard about the accident he had been lived. How dare Miriam off herself in his car! He had pretended to be the devoted parent and worried husband, hiding his rage in front of Officer Johanssen. He had walked the cop out of his house before storming into his office to look for a copy of his auto insurance when he stumbled across the life-insurance papers. Yes, he was going to be worried for a few more days before calling off the search and then collecting in the money. He chuckled darkly to himself, "All this time, and your worth more dead." He said once again to the framed picture before during himself some more scotch.

Phoebe Heyerdahl didn't show up to class the next day. Or the day after that. And no one at PS 118 blamed her. Mr. Simmons class was solemn. No one was pulling pranks, no spit balls. No crude jokes. The tormentor of the sixth grade class was gone. Phoebe walked in late. Everyone rushed up to her, hoping that they had heard something from Helga. Arnold and Gerald stayed back. Phoebe never called Arnold like she had promised and Gerald being an officers son would know before anyone else in Hillwood. Arnold saw Phoebe shake her head before stepping away from the class and walking towards them. "Arnold, I want to hold a vigil for Helga, her mom and her sister Olga, could you ask your grandparents if I can have it at the boarding house?"

Shocked and in a weird way glad that she had asked me I answered. "Yeah, I just have to ask my grandpa, k?" She nodded. "Wait." Gerald said, I turned to look at him. "Is Olga missing too? When? How did this happen?" Phoebe shrugged, "Yeah, their pig of a father is making a bigger deal out of Olga's disappearance than the death of Helga. The ass." Phoebe said. "It was on the news, oh and he called out the search, he's declaring them dead tomorrow." Everyone knew who Phoebe was referring too...Big Bob.

School went by slow for the class. Mr. Simmons didn't even bother taking row, he knew that Helga was the only one absent, and it lay heavy on his heart. The class just sat in the seats, talking quietly among themselves, some reading and others pretending to read, trying to pass the time. "I miss her." Rhonda blurted out. Everyone knew who she was referring too. "Me too." Phoebe said. "She was a good friend." "An even better bully." Harold said. Phoebe glared at him, then her look soften. "Yeah. She was good at that. Old Betsy and The Five Avengers will be missed." Arnold laughed, "Spitballs and name calling." Then they broke into stories of the beloved bully and the rest of the school day went by fast.

A few minutes before the bell rang, everyone had gathered their bags when Mr. Simmons stood up. "It was—is a great way to remember Helga by what you did, reminiscing her adventures that you had with her. Helga will be missed. She was a great student, almost rivaling Phoebe at time, she kept her intelligence secret. I often saw the problems solved correctly and then she purposely wrote the wrong answers in the blanks. Not many of you know but, Helga was kind, caring and had the gift of words and if you would allow me to read to you one of her poems." Everyone nodded, a few 'yes' where heard. "Very well,

_Oh I beg you: can I follow?  
>Oh I ask you: why not always?<br>Be the ocean, where I unravel,  
>be my only, be the water where I'm wading.<em>

_You're my river running high,  
>run deep, run wild.<em>

_I I follow, I follow you  
>Deep sea baby, I follow you<br>I follow, I follow you  
>Dark doom honey, I follow you<em>

_He a message; I'm the runner.  
>He the rebel; I'm the daughter waiting for you.<em>

_You're my river running high  
>run deep, run wild.<em>

_I I follow you, I follow you,  
>Deep sea baby, I follow you<br>I I follow you, I follow you  
>Dark doom honey, I follow you<em>

_You're my river running high,  
>run deep, run wild."<em>

The class was quiet, "That girl could write!" Gerald blurted out and everyone clapped for the girl who kept her poetry hidden. The bell rang and the kids left the building to their homes. Phoebe walked to Arnold's house to see if they would say yes and to help our with anything that the Shortman's may need. Hours later, the three sat watching the evening news as they waited in vain to hear of any news only to see an anchorwoman. Minutes after watching they could not believe that he had called off the search for Helga, Miriam and Olga. "He gave up on her." Arnold said quietly as he turned the television off. "That ass." Phoebe said. "What type of person does that?" Gerald asked to no one. "A person with no heart." Arnold spat as they continued to watch the news.

_"Big Bob Pataki will be holding a funeral ceremony, late Sunday night and encourages the whole town to go to honor his wife and daughters. The coroner has not found any bodies around the scene of the accident but, there is a probability, and the firefighters who wore at the scene confirm that "it was a miracle that the framework of the engine was left, the fire was strong enough to have completely charred the bodies." Thus, having the ceremony with empty caskets" _Grandma Gertie had turned off the television, "Its a brave thing you whipper-snappers are doing, and don't let anyone say that you doin' it for nothing. Now go on to the living room, we have guests." The three followed Arnold's grandma out of the small study to the leaving room, none of them knowing that this was going to strengthen their friendship.

The next morning mom woke me up early, it was seven a.m., the earliest time that we had ever been up since we started our new lives. I rolled out of my bed and chose something to wear I chose a purple jacket over a blue long sleeve tee, black jeans and some gray suede boots that we bought at a mall. Something that we rarely did before. Mom was running around the room picking up and making sure that we had everything packed. I came out from the bathroom, putting my toothbrush and paste in its pack before dropping it into my suitcase. Grabbing our stuff we went downstairs to grab some breakfast before we continued on the last hundred miles or so to our new home.

The drive was fast, mostly just listening to music and turning the volume up when there was a song. Most of the drive had been dreary, cloudy and cold, but for the past day or so I had started to see more specks of color. When we crossed the North Carolina border that's when I realized that I had been leaving in a world full of dullness, a life not quiet lived to the fullest; where the only specs of color had been while hanging out with the neighborhood kids, mostly Phoebe and Arnold. I was still sad that my friends thought I was dead, some will probably be sadden by my passing and they will eventually move on, just like I am. "You see that?" Mom said pointing to a small town at the bottom of a valley, nestled between hills and the sea. "The ocean?" I said trying to see it better. "Yes, that right there is New Sindo." "You didn't tell me that it was close to the sea." "Um...surprise!" Mom said. I laughed. We quickly approached the town, the sun seeming to shine around the town. They drove around a a mountain and down the hill, after a few turns they arrived to the large welcoming banner, _Welcome to New Sindo, North Carolina. Our Slice of Heaven, Happiness and New Beginnings_

Yes, Helga G. Pataki was dead, but Gabby Maddison, Gabby was just beginning.

Authors Note:

The poem is a song, _Live at the Moon _by Lykke Li. And, no, I will not have poems and song lyrics in all the chapters. I just like them and add them to the story as I write.

Yeah, I made a few changes to their ages from the series. But there's a point...promise!

And I am trying to make the chapters longer and hopefully in a chapter of two things will start picking up.

Question: _Should Gabby's identity be revealed soon or be dragged on?_

Thanks for reading! And double thanks for reading and reviewing! Until the next chapter, natalieiam.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Changes

_ Our Slice of Heaven, Happiness and New Beginnings. _For the last two years the welcoming phrase of New Sindo became my mantra. It was hard at the beginning. Well, at first it was hard. It was awkward living with the former Olga, a now renamed Giulia Johnson. Giulia was waiting on the stoop as Gwendolyn parked into a remodeled apartment, it wasn't too big, just two stories tall on a street with similar townhouses. Giulia had not dyed her hair like mom or me, she had gotten extensions and bangs. "Oh my god..." I said as I realized that it was Olga. She smiled and waved as we got out of the car. "Hey." She said as she approached us. Mon quickly gave her a hug. They separated with matching smiles, "Hon, hug your sister." I rolled my eyes and dutifully did as I was told. But as I took a step towards her I realized that Olga had never done anything wrong and if I was going to resent someone it should be my parents for giving her more attention and praise than me. I hugged her. "Nice seeing you sis but, can we go inside. I'm freezing!"

"Yeah, lets get our stuff and lets get inside." Mom said opening the trunk. Mom took one and handed it to Giulia while taking the other. "Its the apartment with the blue door, its open." Giulia said as I walked ahead of them. "Since I was here first, I already unpacked the furniture. The kitchen is well stocked. Everything is clean, unpacked. Oh and I got a kitten! Well, I found him in the alley when I was throwing some stuff out. Anyways, like what I was saying, we need to buy some stuff for Baby Sister's room, like bedding and any decorations, for your room too Mom." Giulia kept on chatting as I stepped into the house, instantly I was engulfed by a pleasant smell. As if reading my thoughts, Mom asked what that smell was.

"I made chicken noodle soup for lunch. I know that you guys might be tired of fast food and laying down so I made the soup. Later, if you guys are up for it then we can go finish shopping for clothes and other essentials." While Giulia had been talking I was busy surveying the rooms. The townhouse was larger than the house in Hillwood, but brighter. The living room walls where bright teal and the kitchen had white cabinets and yellow walls. This house was the complete opposite, where the old house was of blue and grey, this house was of bright colors and white furniture, with splashes of pink and purple. Purple, being Olga's favorite color it didn't surprise me but, the fact that they had my favorite color did.

I was interrupted by my thoughts by a meow. I remember Olg—I mean Giulia—mention something about a kitten. I looked for the cry and saw that mom was holding it. I walked up to her and saw that it was a orange kitten. "Its a tabby cat." Mom said as it yawned. I smiled, "Its cute," and I walked passed mom and into the kitchen to wash my hands. Mom put down the cat, quickly washed her hands, grabbed some cups and a pitcher before she joined me and Giulia on the table. We ate chicken noodle soup, while we talked. We made plans to go shopping, to buy the bedding, shampoo, clothes and new shoes. I was enrolled at New Sindo Junior High School, a newly renovated school and I slowly started to make new friends.

It took two years but, I had finally had accustomed to my new life, I had accepted the situation that I was in and had stopped filling guilty for deceiving my friends. Once in a while, like on Phoebe's birthday, I became depressed for a few days until I was coaxed out by Giulia. My sis had not stopped her philanthropist urge, she ran New Sindo Community Building and helped out at the Golf fundraisers. With New Sindo being such a small town it sure had a lot of rich people, but not the snooty rich, it was the more humble rich who behaved like regular people. And it was always surprising me.

It was mid summer, a little more than two years since leaving Hillwood, I was now Gabbee Johnson. Gewndolyn Johnson, owner of the Pink Bow Bakery, and youngest daughter. I was a straight A student who excelled in English, fluent in French, and great in sports. In junior high I had played on all the sports team, even surfing, then I decided to focus on softball, track, volleyball and cheer-leading. _Yes, Helga G. Pataki, former bully and tormentor of PS 118, now liked cheerleading—and with a bright smile on her face. I was pretty popular, even if it was just junior high. Long gone had I stopped __pretending to be something that I was not. There was no worry of a certain football-head, and thus no __possibility of him ever finding my true feelings for him, or worse a rejection. _I quickly shook my head shaking away Arnold Shortman from my mind. 

Mom, burst into my room, she had once again forgot to knock but, it didn't bother me, as much. She was jumping excitedly and seem to be waiting for me to ask her how her date went. I put down Theo, Olga had refused to name him Dog. The now large tabby that had wormed itself into my heart had been playing with its neko fly, a small fishing rod with a feather at the end, "How was your date with the coach?" She broke into a smile. I rolled my eyes at her, but I couldn't stop the smile that broke on my face. Who would have thought that an argument would have started this love fest. Coach Adams, the high school head coach threw a fit when I declined to play for the boys basketball team. He had personally come to the house to try to convince me. Mom was in the kitchen, letting me decide for myself. I was telling the Coach of my plans, he had been shaking his head the whole time I was talking and was going to say something, then Mom stepped in and told him off, _"__**My**__ daughter does not want to play basketball and not a thing that you do or say will change her decision buck-o. So, lay off or I will suggest to the PTA committee that the lack of trophies is not because of their sons but, because the coach lacks motivation."_

And somehow that confrontation led to steady dates between the Coach and Mom, oh and an apology from him. Sighing in defeat I was about to ask her how it went when Giulia burst into my room. "Doesn't anyone bother knocking anymore?" I said smiling. Giulia ignored me and settled on my bed, "So how did the date go?"She asked. "I was about to ask her." Giulia smiled at me. "But did you?" "Shut up." I said giving her a shove. "It was wonderful! He made me dinner at his place and we talked about everything and anything. We were having dessert, brownies from the bakery of course, when I bite down on something hard in the brownie. So, tell me how does an engagement ring get into my batter?" Giulia and I feigned ignorance, Alan Adams had basically asked for our mom's hand in marriage and in the short time that we had known him, he was more of a father to us than our real father and made mom happy. We said yes and had distracted mom at the bakery, slipping the ring in a marked brownie and set it aside for their dinner date/proposal.

"So did you say yes?" I asked barely containing my own excitement. Mom looked at us, somehow dejected, she had a glint in her eye that seemed similar but I couldn't place for the moment. "I would, if he had asked. As soon as I shake the wet crumbs out of it and figure out what it is, well I hug him. And I'm saying yes and then he stops me and says 'Well, this is awkward. But I'm not proposing. Imagine my mortification!" Giulia's mouth dropped open and I only imagined that my face was similar to hers before I found words. "That asshole! He gave us the ring and he even told us how he was proposing!" "He even asked us if it was okay for him to propose!" Giulia quickly added.

"Ah ha! I knew that you guys had something to do with this, Alan had refused to tell me who had helped him, but I tricked you! Ha ha." Mom said standing up and giving her victory dance which was, well, funny consisting of her head bobbing and her dancing like a crab, and reminded me of a crab. "Stop it before the neighbors see your atrocious moves!" Giulia said laughing at mom. "Wait!" I said, Giulia stopped her laughing and mom stopped mid-step. "Did you say yes then?" Mom started dancing faster "Of course, especially after he said that you guys where okay with it." Giulia and I shared a look, jumping off the bed, causing Theo to rush out of the room scared. We hugged her, "Congrats Mom!"

On October first, Alan and Mom tied the knot. At the fair. Where the whole town was in attendance, or most of the population of New Sindo. It had originally been a small, traditional wedding. Originally. Then the guest list grew and before I knew it everyone I knew and a few more that I didn't know where invited. Giulia being an observant person asked how we where going to have such a big party without a venue, then Alan being Alan suggested to have the wedding during the fair. "The fair comes once a year, a few miles out of town, on a really giant field for a few days. There's pig races, harvest weights, pie eating contests, the whole cha-bang. We can even marry on the Ferris wheel!" He had joked about the last part, but Gwendolyn being, well my mom, loved the idea. The wedding was pretty amazing. Giulia and I wore long dresses, white ones with boots. Mom wore a strapless gown with lace and crystals with boots and Alan wore black dress pants, a white button up shirt and a black jacket. The wedding was beautiful and it was the whole cha-bang. The pictures looked amazing, and a large framed picture of a candid shot by the photographer hangs on the wall, just above the plasma television. In the picture, our backs where facing the photographer, the sun setting causing a orange tint to the picture, our hair adornments sparkled and our now blonde hair seemed to glow. Mom and Alan where holding hands, I was giving a side hug to Alan and Giulia was giving mom another one as we stared at the setting sun. We where happy and we still are.

The summer before I started senior year, my life changed again. Giulia had moved out a year and a half ago, she is now married and has a six month old baby girl, Lucinda, we call her Lucee. Giulia now goes by Giulia Adams-Parker, she married Griffin Parker, Alan's nephew. They met at the wedding and dated for a year and a half before proposing. They are happy little family and live two blocks away. Griffin had almost ended the relationship when we told him about our past, his reaction was the opposite of Dad's. Alan had quietly accepted the past, reprimanded us for what we did and breaking the "law", than he said he was proud that we had done what we had done to get out of that situation. Griffin just said, 'I'll be back,' before walking out of the house with his car keys. A few days later he came back and gave me a hug, then left again, only to return hours later to talk to Giulia.

I liked my life. I was co-captain of the cheer team, MVP in softball and volleyball, I dropped out of track when I started helping Dad out with the basketball team, in the end I joined the team along with three other girls. I was still a great student, all A's, with a part time job helping at the bakery and helped Giulia at the recreation center. I had made friends, good friends and I liked my life as it was in New Sindo. I was usually out hanging out with Adam, Nathan, Miranda, and Hannah when I wasn't at home, we would go bowling or have a bonfire at the beach. At home we had dinner together, talked and then I would watch a little TV with them before retreating to my room to finish homework. Mom and Dad went out on dates, even though they where married while I helped Giulia with Lucee. When the weather was nice we went down to the beach or I played basketball with Dad. It was fun.

Now here I was, just after our Fourth of July Bar-Be-Que party starring at the packed boxes scattered around the house. Letting out a frustrated groan I fell to the couch. Eight months ago, Dad and Mom had sat me down for a hard talk. It turns out that Bob had died; apparently he had lived the hard life, partying every weekend, spending all his cash and neglecting his business. He lost all his money gambling, lost the business to the cellphone market, and died of liver failure at the hospital. When mom told me, I just said it 'sucks for him' before grabbing my backpack to meet Hannah at the library. _I think that mom wanted me to feel sorrow for his death. Not happening. The only good thing that man did was give Giulia and me life. He made my life miserable for twelve years, now that he's dead I don't have to feel his neglect. Alan was a way better father figure, he is my dad and Bob Pataki can suck it in the grave. _I made a mental note to tell Alan this after finishing my homework.

I walked into the house, Dad was on the couch watching a game. "Where's mom?" I asked. "At your sisters. Come 'ere." He said opening his arms. I walked to his embrace, "Its okay." He said. "I know. I know that she loved him but, he was mean to me. A father should never treat his kids like he treated me." He just rubbed my shoulder, trying to comfort me. "So, excuse me if I'm not crying for him. I'm not saying that I'm happy that he died or anything but, I wont cry for him. Besides, you are more of a dad than he ever was." He smiled down at me, "I try, Gabbee, I try. And I am happy that you feel that way. Your mom just thought you where retreating back to your old self." I laughed. "Now come on, lets start dinner." He said pulling me off the couch.

Months later, during mid-dinner mom blurted out that we where moving back to Hillwood. I was so shocked and it became so quiet that you could hear the ticktocks of the clock. "What!" I finally sputtered out. "Well, Alan, has a great business deal in the works." "You know how I work part time for PEach technology? The one with the portable MP3, with your Peach notebook." I nodded. "Well, they want me to be full time and in charge of the Hillwood store, marketing, everything. Our lives will completely change and if you agree to it we will start making arrangements to move. So, I know its hard but, can we please move?" I rolled my eyes at his puppy eye look. _That man is gone so there is nothing to fear. I know that everyone will be surprise, some of them might hate me but, they will understand and forgive me. Now the kids of New Sindo High are going to be pissed. _"Fine! But you guys are making it up for me! And Dad gets to tell the athletic department." Dad visibly paled, the other coaches where going to riot once they learned that we are moving, I was one of their best players after all. I laughed at him, "Hey, you got what you wanted." Mom joined in our laughter.

So, sprawled on the couch did my parents find me. "I can see that you did a lot." Mom said sarcastically. I had only packed two boxes of dvds, books and picture frames. "I know. And besides it was you guys that where supposed to pack the living room. I packed the whole kitchen, all the plates, and wrapped them in newspaper and cleaned the cabinets." I said moving over so they could sit. Mom patted my leg, "Thanks for doing this." "Yeah, yeah. So is Giulia packed?" I asked. Dad nodded. "Yup. They are ready to leave. They also wanted to know if you wanted to go with them, to get the house settled and helped take care of the baby?" I thought about it. "Sure. I already finish _my_ packing. When is she leaving?" "Tomorrow morning, early." "Ok." We went out for Thai food that night, considering that we had no pots and I was nervous of people's reaction.

Arnold slammed his alarm clock off. It was his first day of high school and it was also another night where memories of Helga invaded his sleep. He didn't tell anyone of the dreams that he had, where Helga was still alive and happy. It was bad enough that Helga was dead and that Phoebe still grieved for her best friend, she had never completely recovered from Helga's death. Her grades suffered in junior high, but it was understandable. She went from the quiet, reserved girl, that hanged with everyone in the neighborhood to just hanging out with Gerald, her now boyfriend and me. She always spoke her mind now, just like Helga, and went we snuck into the Pataki house to retrieve Helga's journals I was amazed by her stealth. When I asked her she said that she got her moves from her bedt friend who was a pro at sneaking around. Phoebe had also become confrontational and free from fear, on more than one occasion the small girl had cussed out Bob Pataki when she bumped with him on the street, where both Gerald and I had to carry her away. And it had happened a lot. Arnold hoped that this year Phoebe would return back to normal or at least stop confronting the Pataki who seemed more unstable as time passed.

He quickly jumped into the shower, dressed, and got ready for school. Grabbing his backpack he rushed downstairs for breakfast. Leaving his backpack in the leaving room, he walked to the kitchen and said good morning to his parents, they had escaped from San Lorenzo earlier that year, two years to the day that Helga had died. And life at the boardinghouse became better. All the old boarders had moved out and the house became renovated. It was converted to a five bedroom house, a large living room, a bigger kitchen and dining room, a study, and a library. Having his parents around had been just like he had imagined, happy. Mom helped grandma around the house. Dad, grandpa Phil and I played basketball at the park, making up for lost time. He ate his breakfast quickly kissing his mom and grandma on the cheek before leaving the kitchen. Yup, life was better—_Ring Ring Ring. _

I grunted. And walked to the table in the hall. "Hello." He said. "No answer, figures." He said to the phone before yelling, "Grandma, its for you!" He saw his grandma rush out of the kitchen and to the phone. "Who is it Arnold?" I shrugged, "They never say anything!" He said walking out of the house. He walked down the stoop when he realized that he forgot his backpack. He walked back in and as he grabbed his backpack he heard his grandma's voice. "Yes, I know. The death changed him. But what can one do...She changed too. For the better, of course she would have hon. She had to get out of that environment...So your getting married?...Well, Congratulations!" Arnold walked back again. For a second he had thought that grandma had been talking about him than took that silly thought out of his mind and rushed to school.

Freshman year had gone by fast. Arnold and Gerald had joined the football team, as well as most of the boys from the neighborhood. Phoebe's grades picked up and was doing better. She started hanging out with Lila, Nadine, Rhonda and Sheena. The girls eventually joined the cheer-leading team, well the junior team since freshman weren't allowed in the varsity team. Mr. Simmons must have had some connections because the had him for homeroom freshman year, sophomore year, and junior year. The old gang from PS 118 had stayed closed nit. The only difference was that Phoebe and Gerald, as well as Eugene and Sheena, Lila and Sinky, Rhonda and Curly, and Patty and Harold now where couples. We were all working, with the exception of Rhonda, I had gotten a job at Mrs. Vitello's flower shop.

High school went by fast and nothing really did change, other than guess who broke up with Curly and guess who got back with Stinky, and such. The only stable relationship was Gerald and Phoebes. During one of their outings where he actually didn't feel like a third wheel, Phoebe broke down in tears. Gerald had left them at a bench to chase down a dog stand and out of nowhere Phoebe started crying. "You know life was never supposed to have been like this." I tried telling her that it was okay now and she shook her head. "You don't understand Arnold. You were so dense and you still are. Helga was in love with you. She loved you so much, her love was so deep. I was in love with Gerald and she was in love with you. Its unfair that I get to be so happy and she is dead! You don't think that I see that you where also in love with her. Your miserable Arnold! Everyone can tell. You don't get enough sleep, you barely eat, and your not like you where. You never realized it and she agreed that it was a spur of the moment slip up because you suggested but, it wasn't. Arnold, two best friend's where going to date two best friends and now, now you won't marry my best friend cause she's dead!"

Arnold just wrapped his arms around the young Japanese girl. "I thought that I had been hiding it well." Arnold said. "I guess I wasn't. And yeah, I was in love with her. I just never realized it until it was too late. And I don't think that I will ever get over her. Ever." And that was the only consolation that Phoebe Heyerdahl needed as she clung to Arnold for dear life. She had mourned the death of her best friend five years ago, and now that she was almost seventeen she cried for all the things that her best friend never got to do. By the time that Gerald returned, Phoebe was calmed down. Without any words, and sharing a look with his best friend that only could be understood between them, he silently told them he was going home.

On the way home that day I found out that Bob Pataki was dead. Glaring at his picture in the newspaper_, Everything would have been better if you had driven off that cliff. If only you had been a better father, if you had cared a little bit for her._ Crumpling it up and dropping it in a nearby trashcan I continued my walk home. I walked in to see that Grandma was on the phone. "Hey." He quietly said as he walked up the stairs. "No, he's dead...Am I sure? Of course, you know that I would never lie to you, especially after all that you went through." As I turned the corner, Grandma's voice faded and I fell into bed, knowing that Helga will be the center of my dreams.

Just after the Fourth of July celebration, which consisted of singing Christmas carols, did I come to find out that a family was moving and renovating the green house on the left. I didn't think much about it. Until a few days later, when I was taking the trash out. A red Jeep Cherokee pulled in with a U-Pull trailer behind it. The woman had long blonde hair, walked out of the passenger seat and opened the back seat to pull out baby car seat. A man quickly walked around the car to help her with the baby. Something about the woman seem familiar.

I didn't even stop myself as I said, "Olga?" The woman turned to me. "Hey Arnold, nice to see you again." Before walking up the steps to the house. They walked inside the house, leaving the front door open. "Of course!" A voice said from the car. I saw the top of someone's head walking around the car, their hair was also blonde. "All that baby did was cry all the way here and as soon as we get there she stops." The girl had long, blonde wavy hair in a pony tail. She was wearing a pink polo shirt and cut off shorts. She was tan and tone. She had beautiful blue eyes, familiar eyes..no, it can't be. "Would you quit gawking at me football-head!" She said walking past him. She had taken only three steps when Arnold found his voice. "Helga?" She turned around. "I thought you where d-dead." Her stance changed and seemed nervous, "If I was dead would I be talking to you! Jeez how stupi—sorry, old habit. Yeah, I know. Sorry about that. I'll talk to you later, ok football-head?" She quickly turned around and walked to her house. "And I changed my name to Gabbee Adams." She said before closing her front door.

I turned to walk to my house, open the door and when I was in the safety of the boarding house did my legs give causing me to fall against the door frame. Dad found me like that, "Arnold are you okay?" I stood up. "Yeah. I think so." I took a step forward before everything turned black.

Author's Note: Hey guys! Thanks so much for reading. Hope you liked this chapter! A special thanks to DarkAngel886. Loved your message and I took in consideration what you said. Hope that you enjoyed this chapter.

Comment, review or suggestions always welcomed!

Lots of love, natalieiam


	5. Chapter 5

We loaded up the car the night before so, that once we got up we just had to get on the road. In theory, it sounded easy. Once morning rolled around, we all overslept, the baby was cranky, I couldn't find my left shoe and I couldn't coax Theo out from under the couch. After what seemed like hours we were all settled, Dad and Mom agreed that Theo could ride with them, and we got on the road.

Much to my surprise the ride back to Hillwood was simple and fast. Lucee was cranky and cried, a lot. And I spent most of my time trying to quiet her down, eventually giving up and putting on my headphones. We stopped at a burger place once we crossed the New Jersey line for an early lunch. I knew that it was only a matter of hours when I would be back in Hillwood and I felt my stomach tightening with worry. I put on my headphones, hoping that the music will help me sleep, but it was too uncomfortable. Eventually I settled to listen to Olga and Griffin's boring conversation, I guess that did it because when I woke up next we had just passed the gas station just out of town. But what once a small town had grown. The few miles of open space was now a suburban neighborhood. From what I remember, Hillwood only had two large buildings but now there was at least six of various heights and shapes. "Look, Helga! The town sure has changed!" Olga said in awe. "Yup." I agreed, I just hope that the old neighborhood hadn't changed this much.

After a serious of quick turns we where finally in the old neighborhood. I passed Phoebe's house then Sheena's, Eugene, Harold, Mrs. Vitellos flower shop and Green Meats. I was extremely happy that the businesses where still running and that small town feel was still there. We finally passed Arnold's house, Griffin made a u-turn and he parked next door to the boarding house. "Oh shit." I said as I saw Arnold come out of the house with a large trash bag.

Olga came around to grab Lucee out of the car._ Hopefully he doesn't recognize us. _That thought went down the drain as I heard him call out for Olga. I didn't even hope that Olga would deny it. "Hey Arnold, nice to see you again." I saw her make her way up to the house. _Shit! How-what am I going to say. Whatever. _Forcing myself out of the car,"Of course! All that baby did was cry all the way here and as soon as we get there she stops." Ignoring my weak legs I walked around to the car only to be faced with Arnold. He had grown taller, his hair was a little shaggy, his head was no longer oddly shaped. He looked good but had dark circles around his eyes. And if it wasn't such a weird situation I could have sworn that Arnold was checking me out. "Would you quit gawking at me football-head!" I blurted out, feeling the old me raising the walls back up. I had taken only three steps when Arnold called out. "Helga?" I spun around then cursed myself for turning so fast. "I thought you where d-dead." I blinked and I shifted from one leg to the other, "If I was dead would I be talking to you? Jeez how stupi—sorry, old habit." _I was thankful that I had stopped myself from being his bully, you messed his life once, you know what bullying does to people._ "Yeah, I know. Sorry about that. I'll talk to you later, ok football-head?" I quickly turned around and walked to my house. "And I changed my name to Gabbee Adams." I said before closing the front door.

_Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit. Arnold now knows, he knows. He knows! What am I going to do?_ I slumped against the door frame. _I knew that the truth was going to come out, I knew that I was going to have to explain everything but, I did not think that it was going to be as soon as I set foot in Hillville. _

I closed my eyes, _how could I have stopped this from happening? Ugh!_ "Gabs you can get off the floor." Giulia said as she walked down the stairs. I closed my eyes, "Not know." She laughed. Of course, she would laugh she doesn't have to deal with the drama that is my life. Reprimanding myself for my pity party I force myself to inspect the house. It was hot, but the AC was on and I could feel the cold air from the vents. The house was large, a giant living room, a large kitchen with outdated appliances, a cramped dining room and a really bad first floor restroom. I knew that the house was three stories high, and I wanted the top floor. I quickly inspected the second floor. It had five rooms and three restrooms. I finally found the stairway that led directly to my room and rushed upstairs. I had expected the room to be somewhat small but was surprise to see it larger than my old room. I rushed downstairs, excited about the remodel.

Tripping on the last step on the stairs I rushed to the kitchen knowing that Olga and Griffin would be there. "My lovely sister!" I sang as I ran to the kitchen. Griffin was sitting on the stool in front of the too small table, and what seemed to be the only furniture in the house, feeding Lucee her bottle. Olga was leaning against the kitchen cabinets, a goofy smile plastered on her face. "I was wondering when you where going to show up." I smiled. "I want the third floor room and I want to start arranging it and decorating it. When can we start? When? When?" I knew that I was acting like a little five year old let loose at a candy store but, I just couldn't contain myself. "When?" I said again. Olga and Griff laughed. "So?" I asked. "Well, the house does need a lot of work. Okay, we can start with the bedrooms first and then work our way down to the living room and the kitchen, how does that work?" Griffin asked Olga.

Olga seemed to deliberate for a minute. "Sounds good. We can work on the bedrooms, then mom and dad and Helga can decided on the rest." I was confused, "You guys aren't staying here?" I asked them. Olga quickly rushed towards me. "Oh we are, but not permanently. We can't live with my parents the rest of our lives and we need our privacy like any other couple." I made a face, I knew what they where trying to say and I silently thanked her for sparing me more details. "So when can we go shopping? Because we need beds." At this Olga let a loud "what" and rushed upstairs. Griffin and I heard her as she ran up the stairs and open and closed the bedroom doors, then rush back downstairs. "Griffin, where are the beds?" Griffin shrugged. "I thought that the truck was going to arrive before us."

Before Olga could freak out on him, his cell phone rang. He calmly picked it up and answered. After a few minutes of conversing and Olga pacing the kitchen, he hanged up. "So, good news and bad news. The good news is that your mom and my uncle are on there way here, the bad news is that the truck is delayed in Jersey."

"There is no point waiting at an empty house, why don't you come over and have lunch with the family?" A voice said from the kitchen.

I found myself staring up at the ceiling and squirming away from the disgusting smelling concoction that my mother was wafting to my face. "Arnold are you okay?" my mother asked. "Shortman, how many fingers am I holding?" Grandpa Phil said. I blinked a few times to take the blurriness away from my sight before I answered. "Yeah, mom I'm okay. Grandpa your holding three fingers up front and two in the back." I saw grandpa smiling before he sat on the sofa. "Arnold what happened?" dad asked making his way from the kitchen. "I-I think I just saw Helga and Olga Pataki moving next door." "What!" Stella screeched dropping the disgusting goo on the floor, making me move to the other end of the sofa. "That can not be true. Weren't the Pataki girls dead?"

Arnold shrugged, "I thought so too, but then I talked to them and Helga apologized." "Oh, you spoke to Eleanor?" Grandma Gertie said as she walked into the living room. I saw that grandma was not surprised or shocked. Taking the orange juice that she offered I nodded weakly. Now everyone seemed to be looking at her. I caught mom giving dad a worried look. "Where?" She asked me. And it seemed that Grandma was the only person that believed me. "Just outside, when I was taking the trash out. She and Olga, a man and a baby are our new neighbors."

I saw the large smile that grandma gave me. "Oh, I just knew that there was a reason Miriam wasn't telling me where they moving too. I am so glad that they moved in next door." And just like that everything fell into place. All the calls, they started right after Helga had die—disappeared.d "Grandma, you-you knew that Helga was alive?" I said in a harsh tone. Everyone looked at me in silent,shock. "Yes." She said taking a step closer to me. "I was the one that also helped them escape, I couldn't tell anybody. I lived with the secret for five years, fearful of your reaction Arnold because I knew how you were going to be beyond upset. But understand this. Things for Helga were going to get worse if she stayed and thank god for Miriam realizing it in time. Because if she hadn't I assure you that Eleanor would have died by the hands of that man! So, I did what I had to do, Arnold. And I wont apologize for helping that girl get away from that horrid excuse of a man."

Everyone in the house looked at her in shock. "Mom you knew?" Miles asked. Grandma Gertie just rolled her eyes and turned back to her grandson. "I know that you are shocked to find out the truth but, she had to keep it secret in order to live a life free from fear and she has." I cocked an eyebrow, somewhere inside understanding that his grandmother did it for Helga. After a quick internal debate, I decided that staying angry will not help me solve anything. "I'm sure that she appreciates everything that you did Grandma, but it was hard on all of us, believing that she was dead." "So does she still have the uni-brow?" Grandpa Phil asked breaking the tension. I burst out laughing but, grandpa continued. "She would have been a looker if she had just gotten rid of that brow." Stella looked in shock at the teasing that her son was partaking in, catching the look I stopped laughing. "No, she actually looks good. Beautiful actually."

Grandma Gertie and Granpa shared a look that I could not describe, but I knew that most likely it had to do with me.

Next door, a livid Olga and Helga where screaming at the phone. "She was not shocked at all to see us! She invited us to lunch, Arnold practically became a statue but his Grandma, she was not shocked at all! Why, mom?" It was the fourth time that Miriam denied knowing anything about Gertie, but Helga and Olga recognized the tone immediately. Taking away the phone from Helga's hand and putting it on speaker Olga calmly asked her mother again. "We agreed on no-contact to anyone in Hillwood. And mom I know that you broke it. How else could she know? What if the plan had not worked and we could have been in danger this whole time." She heard her mother sigh. "Okay, I'll tell you everything." Helga walked up to Olga hovering over the phone, catching every word of the explanation.

"In one of my many black outs, and I am ashamed of them—who knows what trouble I got myself in—well, I found myself in an alley not too far from the neighborhood but well enough not to recognize it. Well, one afternoon, recovering from a killer hangover I was slumped against the dumpster where Gertie found me. She cleaned me up, gave me an earful about what the hell was I doing in my life and then she made me realize that the only person that was actually suffering was my baby girl. That Helga, was my turning point. That night was the night that I promised you we would escape and we did. After that night I recycled the bottles and pretended to be drunk not to arouse suspicion in Bob, I talked daily to Gertie, meeting when we could, I did not trust the phone lines and eventually we hatched out the plan to escape. We escaped and I told her where we where, and how we where doing and kept her up to date in all of our lives, I trust her completely and I know that she will never do anything to put you girls in danger. I am sorry that I lied to you. But I needed to keep talking to her, to have some type of verification that I was doing all right with our new lives."

By the end of her rushed explanation, Griffin came to the room, "I don't know about you guys but I am getting kinda hungry." "We just ate!" Olga said as she grabbed her daughter to make the short walk next door. I quickly said goodbye to mom telling her that we were back to ok, not perfect but better.

I was shocked when the door opened and a tall, blonde man opened the door and no assortment of animals rushed out of the house. _Must be the wrong house._ But he quickly invited us in. "So, I'm Miles Shortman. Arnold's believed to be dead dad." _Arnold knew that you guys where not dead. He always believed that his parents will come back. _"Dad!" Arnold screamed from down the hall. "I never thought you were dead!" he said walking into the living room. I was glad that Arnold was back to not stuttering. After quick introduction and a quick tour of the downstairs we where led to the kitchen. Lunch consisted of spaghetti and meatballs with Caesar salad and pink lemonade. I was worried that there was going be awkwardness around the table but, the conversation flowed freely and I was so thankful for that. I was brought out of my thoughts when grandpa Phil volunteered Miles and Arnold to help unpack. Stella also volunteered to help. Everything was set out, and I thanked Gertie before leaving the house. No one asked me anything and I appreciated that they let me have a few minutes to gather my thoughts. I sat on the steps of my new house and looked around the neighborhood. _Jeez, I missed this place. _"We missed you too." Arnold said.

It was quiet for a few minutes before I broke the silence. "You know that the boring conversation in doors was better than this silence." I saw Arnold lips form into a smile. " I don't know what to say." I nodded, "I think its more like you don't know what to ask." Arnold eyes widened and then nodded. "I left the night before my birthday. I knew that Phoebe was going to be the most worried. I knew that out of everyone, my best friend was going to suffer the most. It sucked that I couldn't see her or talk to her, or even give her a sign that I was alive and well. And eventually I just stopped. I pretended. I pretended that Phoebe and I just drifted ways and that we both moved. It was easy to not be a bully and it was a little bit easier when I made new friends, it was easier when mom married Alan, he is my dad, my _only _dad. It became easier to deal with Olga and life was just easier away from _him. _But I did miss her, and you and everyone from the neighborhood. Even Brainy." He laughed.

"He moved to the Alps a few years ago and then moved back completely different." I raised my eyebrow. "How different?" I asked amused. "Lets just say that hes not the same pale, glass wearing guy." I laughed. "Where did you move to?" He asked after a minute of silence. "New Sindo. Its in North Carolina. A coastal city. Great place to surf." "Really?" He asked with a hint of amusement in his voice. "Yeah," I said, "you are looking at New Sindo's number one amateur surfer. I got first place this summer at the Wave Fest Competition." "So? You are looking at Hillwood's MVP, three year running in basketball and football." I laughed at his outburst. Our calm atmosphere changed. "Where's your mom?" "She's in New Sindo. She and Dad are packing the last things while we settle the house here. But I talked to her earlier and there on their way. Then when they come by its going to be complete chaos. With remodeling the house, mom opening a bakery, and dad's new PEach Partnership and the store grand opening, I am so glad that I just have to babysit and walk Theo." "Who is Theo, your dog?" "Nope. He is my cat who likes to be taken out on walks. I swear that the tabby cat acts more like a dog than an actual dog. Can you believe that he once actually ate my homework?" At this Arnold laughed.

He was quiet for a second. "Wait a minute. Are you telling me that your dad is opening a PEach store in Hillwood. Like an actual PEach store, the white walls and PEach tablets and PEach laptops." I nodded then realized that he probably couldn't see it. "Well, yeah. They are also opening a research lab downtown and he is overlooking everything." "But I thought you said that he was a coach and that is how your mom and you met him." "Well, yeah. But Griffin Parker, dad's nephew is the "P" in PEach and dad, Alan Adams, is the "a" in PEach. Opening the store in Hillwood and research lab are just going to show that the business can be run by family and thus returning the controlling power to Uncle Peter, who lost it when his wife died, he is also the "P". Yeah, I know that you are confused by all of this, I get confused by who is running the company and I am actually told this information first hand." He laughed, I always wanted a PEach seed." I laughed. "That is such a stupid name for an MP3 player. I am so glad that they did not name the laptop trees or something equally as ridiculous." He laughed again. We where interrupted by his mom, "Arnold, Helga there you are. Would you like some tapioca?"

"Yes, please!" I said making my way up. "Don't worry about it hon. I'll bring you some." Silence once again enveloped us and was broken when the door opened and Stella handed the small cups to us. "Thanks Mrs. Shortman." "Call me Stella. Please?" She gabe me a helpless look that I had to comply. "Okay Stella." She smiled and closed the door as she walked back in. "Helga?" Arnold asked as I took a spoon of the pudding. "Yeah?" "Um, so I called Phoebe—and no I didn't tell her you were not dead—but I told her that I couldn't meet them later at Roy's, its a diner a few blocks south of here that opened a few years ago and, well, we have dinner there every Saturday and knowing me well, they knew that something fishy was going on and they invited themselves over." I only nodded vaguely understanding what he was trying to say.

"Wait, Arnold. Who is "they" that you keep mentioning?" "Well Phoebe and Gerard, boyfriend and girlfriend."That comment alone sparked a curiosity in me, _how close had Phoebe gotten to Gerard and Arnold._ A smile grew on my face. "She finally got tall afro boy, huh? We always thought that I was going to end with ice cream first." "So did she, that is until you not-not die?" Arnold trailed off, confused on what to call my non-death for the past five years. Swallowing hard _He knows about Ice cream too?Did they know about the poems and massive crush on football head?_ "So, what about later?" I finally asked. "Gerard and Phoebe are coming over to meet the new neighbor. I could come up with an excuse."

_Damn it! As if confronting Arnold wasn't bad enough. Today I also get to talk to my best friend who thought I was dead for the past five years._ "Awesome freaking welcome back to Hillwood." I spat out sarcastically before taking another bite out of the tapioca. Ignoring his question, I did the only thing I could, "This is really good tapioca."

**Authors Note: **_I am so sorry that it took me FOREVER to update. Life got in the way. School started, work got busy, and I had an eye infection. Than more work and school. But enough with the excuses. I do apologize for the delay. Hope that this chapter is to your satisfaction and like always, feel free to review or comment. Xoxo N._


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six:

I was a ball of nerves. I should have known that with my luck things were not going to be so easy. First thing that happens as I step in Hillwood I move in next door to Arnold, my childhood love. Second, I get to meet my best friend who thought I was dead for the past five years. So, when the massive truck with all our stuff pulled in, I was extremely thankful that I was going to be busy for awhile and forget about my incoming meeting.

I had thought about painting my room, but I decided that the lavender color suited me. I was thankful that the house was spotless, and other than the first floor, it needed no remodeling. So the movers brought my bed and frame in and set it up. By the time that they where done with setting up all the beds and frames in the designated rooms, Arnold, Phil, Stella, Olga, Jeff and Miles had unloaded all the boxes, while Grandma Gertie took care of Lucee.

Other than narrow passages leading to the door, kitchen and the stairs, it seemed that the first floor seemed completely covered with boxes. I was so glad that the boxes where labeled as _Gab's, Mom+Pop, G+J, Lucee's, Kitchen, Living Room, Dining, Bath. _Arnold helped me bring my stuff up to my room and after many trips up and down the stairs we both fell on top of my bed completely exhausted. "I need a shower." He started, "But I don't even want to move." I laughed.

"You are such a wimp." I said. "I totally am not! You know that I'm on the football team, quaterback." "Really?" I asked, "Varsity?" "Yup, with Gerald and Harold and the rest of the gang." "Really?" "Yup, and the girls are cheerleaders, varsity as well." "Really?" "Would you please stop saying 'Really' it sounds so so condescending." I laughed. "I'm just glad that not everything changed." By this time we were both on our sides looking at each other. "A lot of things change Helga. But a lot of things are still the same." I saw his hand moving up to me and he gently tugged away a strand of my hair behind my ear. "I'm glad." I whispered. We both jumped when we heard our names being called from downstairs.

"Arnold!" Stella screamed up at us, not realizing that we were just behind her. "Oh, Arnold! There you are. Arnold, we are heading out but you are welcome to stay." She smiled at us. "It really is lovely to have you as neighbors and I hope that I get to see more of you around." She gave me a hug before ruffling Arnold's hair and leaving with Miles and Phil. "I better go, take a shower before Pheebs and Gerald show up. Um, do you want to see them or I can tell them your busy or something?" He asked nervously. "I think its better to see them now. The most I postpone it the harder it will be."

A smile so big spread out on his face that it made me forget to breathe for a minute. "I'm glad, Helga. I'll give you my number so you can text me." He quickly said his number as I programmed it onto my seed phone. He smiled again at me before walking out. "Arnold!" I screamed from the doorway as he was going to his house. "Thanks!" I said giving him a smile and closing my door.

Sighing, I made my way to my room to find my shower products to take a shower.

#

She smiled. And it was radiant. I had never seen her so carefree and so happy, even though she was worried about Phoebe, she was so free and confident. "I'm back!" I said as I made my way up the stairs to my room. I took a hot shower, hoping to ease my muscles. I couldn't believe how much stuff Helga had. We both had made at least twelve trips down the two flights of stairs. But it's worth it, knowing that she is safe next door. I finished my shower and changed into jeans and a white tee and a red plaid shirt. Just as expected, I had tied my sneakers when there was a knock on the door. "Arnold, its Gerald and Phoebe." "Are you decent?" Came Phoebe's voice. I smiled remembering both our embarrassment when she had walked in on me half naked, luckily she didn't see anything. "Yeah, I'm good!" I called out and they came in. "Hey, man, whats up?" Gerald asked as we shook hands. "You have no idea." I said and moved to give a hug to Phoebe. "Hey Phoebes." "Hey no too touchy on my girlfriend." Gerald called out from the bed. Phoebe rolled her eyes as we sat on the couch while Gerald was sprawled out on my bed reading a magazine.

"Make yourself at home." I muttered making Phoebe giggle. "Hey, what are you laughing at over there?" "Nothing." Both Phoebe and I said. Gerald narrowed his eyes. "Arnold you are my best friend but don't think that I won't hesitate to kick your butt down the neighborhood if you are hitting on my girl." I laughed. "You wouldn't have to worry about Arnold if you had a little more manners. Look at yourself, taking over Arnold's bed." Phoebe said at him slightly amused at his jealousy. I put my arm around Phoebe's shoulder. "You know what? You can have my bed, I'll just take your girl out." Gerald mouth fell open. "How about it, Phoebe. Me and you. Gerald and my bed." At this point Gerald yelled "Hell no!" And pounced from the bed to the couch, pushing me away from his girlfriend. "Babe, don't listen to him. I wouldn't trade you for Arnold's bed or for all the riches in the world." "Please please please stay with me!" He said sprinkling kisses all over her face.

I laughed at their antics. "You are so whipped!" I said. He just sent me the middle finger as he continued to kiss his girlfriend. Eventually, and thankfully they stopped. "So did you guys just come to my room to make out or for you to hang out with me?" Phoebe smiled up at me as she cuddled against Gerald. "Both." Gerald said and then quickly added, "Well mostly to make out." Phoebe slapped his arm. "Truthfully, we came to see what was going on with your neighbor." "Yeah, she's cool. Played sports at her old school." "That's cool and everything, but is she hot?" Gerald asked, momentarily forgetting that his girlfriend was right next to him. She slapped him again. "I just took you back. Don't make me trade _you_ for Arnold's bed." "Babe, I asked for him, I don't care if she's hot. But my man here, needs a girlfriend. He has not dated anyone since, like, forever." A sad look passed through Phoebe and before I could say something my seedphone rang.

"Hello." "Hey, Arnold, its me." I smiled. Helga. "Hey, whats up?" I asked with a smile. "Nothing, much. I just got out of the shower and kinda hungry. Olga and Jeff are staying in and ordering pizza—." "Oh, I see. Yeah, we can go out. But, um, I kinda have company. Unless you want to meet them." Gerald took the phone away from me, "I'm Gerald, the uh, company and I was just leaving. So, you can take Arnold here anywhere." I pulled the phone away. "Sorry about that He—he fell off the bed when he was younger." "Nice save." "Sorry." "So is Phoebe is around?" "Yeah." It was quiet for a moment. "Invite them. We'll go have a really awkward dinner and hopefully they will forgive me." "They will. Trust me." It was silent again and I could tell that Phoebe and Gerald where wondering what this conversation was all about. "Arnold." "Yeah?" "Thank you again." "That's the second time today." "I mean it. Even when you we where younger, in preschool when you lent me your umbrella. I never thanked you. And you even forgave me for everything that I did." "Hey, don't tear up. Its okay." "Its not. At least not yet." "It will though." "Your right." "I'm always right." "Hey don't get cocky now. Invite them. I'll meet you outside in a few minutes. K?" "Ok. But don't wuss out!" "Whatever!" She yelled back before hanging up.

"Arnold, who was that?" Gerald asked. "Could it possibly be a girl?" Phoebe asked with a smirk. "Um, it was just a friend." "Uh huh. What friend wanted to have dinner? Harold or Rhonda?" Gerald asked. "Its um, the neighbor. I knew her before she moved away. And now she's back." "Mmhmm. The way you talked to her was more like lovey-dovey." "Whatever, Gerald. Now do you want to have diner with the neighbor or not?" Phoebe smiled. "Sure, lets go meet Arnold's future girlfriend." They started laughing and I just ignored them and started walking down the stairs. I stopped by the kitchen, "Grandma, I'm having dinner with-" I moved my head to the side, motioning to Helga's house. "Gerald and Phoebe are going too." "Ok. But I don't think they have any food next door." I smiled up at her. "No, grandma, we are probably going to the diner." She smiled. "Ok, hopefully everything turns out well." "I know."

"Bye, Grandma G!" Gerald called out as he followed me to the door. "Bye, Gertie!" Phoebe called out as she joined us outside. It was dusk already and for a second I wondered where the day had gone. I yawned and I was slightly surprised. "Is it past your bedtime Arnold?" Helga called as she walked up to me. "Or are you bored without little old me?" I smiled. "Ha ha. Your the one that called me out, first." I saw her smile again. "Because I am hungry. Now lets go before I starve to death." She started walking the wrong way, "Hey, its this way." "I know. I'm taking the car." I quickly ran up behind her before realizing that no one was following us. I guess she noticed to because she turned at the same time. She walked past me and back to where Phoebe and Gerald where standing. "I guess you recognized me?" She asked as I stood by her. "He-Helga?" Phoebe asked. "Yeah, Phoebes. Its me in the flesh. I'm not dead?" It seemed that with every word she became smaller and smaller. "I'm sorry!" She said.

#

"I'm sorry." What else could I say to my childhood best friend who thought I was dead for the past five years. Its not like they sell Hallmark cards for this type of situation. "I just moved back today. Olga and my mom are alive too. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you, I know your mad, I know that you hate me—." "I don't!" I looked at her and she rushed towards me and hugged me. We fell to the sidewalk. "I am so glad that you are alive. I missed you so much. I can not believe that you came to see Arnold before me! I am your best friend, I still am your best friend right?" I smiled and I felt tears of joy trailing down my ears. "Your my only best friend!" I said giving her another hug.

_**Authors Note: Let me know what you think. I'll try to upload another chapter before the month ends. Review! -N**_


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven: **Friends and Comfort

And with another hug from my best friend I felt that the world lifted off my shoulder and I could breath again. Phoebe gave me another bone shattering hug before we got off from the sidewalk. Finally standing I saw that she had also grown up.

Before stood a beautiful girl, long gone where the oval glasses and the oversized sweater. She had straight bangs and had grown her hair out and had her ears pierced. She was wearing jean shorts and a nautical shirt. And we were the same height. "You got taller." I said looking her over. She smiled, "Nope, your just short." I broke out in laughter and turned to see at the tall-haired boy. "I think I broke your boyfriend." I said motioning to Gerald. He had grown to a tall and lean, and athletic man. His hair was a lot shorter than what I was used to but it suited him.

Phoebe turned around and rushed over to him, "Gerald, hon, it's going to be okay." She said trying to get him to react. He seemed to ignore her. "You—you wore in North Carolina! I saw—I saw the pictures and I thought you looked like Helga, but it said a different name." I narrowed my eyes.

"When were you in North Carolina?" I asked. "Three summers ago. Remember when I went to visit my grandma in New Haven. There was an article written about this surfer, cheerleader girl and on it was a picture of her." I nodded now understanding, New Haven was just forty minutes away and probably had the same county newspaper distribution. "New Haven was not far from where I lived." I stated.

He glared at me. "I know. I'm glad that your alive and that you lived a normal life away from that monster but that does not change the fact that you left a town brokenhearted." I swallowed the lump of guilt that was stuck in my throat, "I know. And I'm sorry—." He stopped me before I could say another word. "I don't want that from you, and I am not angry, I just want you to understand that when you went off and had a happy life you broke the neighborhood. And it hasn't been the same, now that your back you have a lot of making up to do." I nodded. "I wish I could have done something to tell you that I was still alive."

Gerald smiled before walking up to me and whispering, "I'm glad that your back, maybe you can bring my best-friend back." I looked up at him, not understanding. I looked up at him, _what has happened while I was away? _"Now lets go and get some food!" Gerald said. Making Phoebe and Arnold laugh and breaking me away from my thoughts.

I led them to the silver Scion, where Gerald and Phoebe took the back seat and Arnold road shotgun. "Is Bigals Cafe still open?" I asked as I pulled onto the street. Phoebe and Gerald snickered, but only Arnold answered. "Yeah, its called Big Al's Cafe now though." I thought about it for a second. "Isn't it the same thing?" I questioned as I drove them to the cafe."

"No!" Came an outburst from the back. "It's not?" I said as I made a right. "No it is not." Phoebe said in a tone that I did not want to argue with. Arnold was snickering in the front seat. I pulled into a parking space. "Its not too crowded is it?" I asked as we got out of the car. "Is Helga G. Pa—." Gerald started but I cut him off. "I go by Gabbee now. At least for awhile. And no I am not afraid. I just don't want to deal with another confrontation after the crazy emotional roller coaster that I had today. I just want to have a pleasant and somewhat awkward meal after a long day of moving, then want to go back to my bed and try to sleep in a my new old hometown."

Phoebe shot me a bright smile. "I like the sound of that."

We sat in a corner booth and ordered. It wasn't crowded, the restaurant had expanded to the building next door, that half was a bit more formal with larger tables. While this side maintained the booths, smaller tables and soft alternative music. "So Arnold told me that the whole neighborhood is in varsity teams. Football for the guys and cheer-leading for the girls." I asked. There were a murmur of yeses and a blushing Phoebe. "Phoebes are you embarrassed?" I asked softly. She laughed. "No, I'm just—okay, I am. But not because I am a cheerleader but, because you are one too! I never thought that you could stand to wear the uniform with a constant smile on your face!"

I laughed. "I would have never expected that of myself Pheebs. However my home environment was different in New Sindo, and I sort of grew up from the bully that used to torment the neighborhood." It was quiet. I guess everyone was reminiscing the past. We were interrupted by a kid-waiter, "Hey guys, Phoebe, new chick. What can I get ya?"

"Hey Will, I didn't know you worked here." Arnold said. "Yeah, started a few weeks ago. I have to save up for my own car, mom can't pick me up after practice." "Do what you gotta do, we need you in the team, man." Gerald added. "And it will look wonderful on your college application," Phoebe added. "Will, this is Gabbee, an old friend, she just moved back. Gabbee, this is Will, he is in the football team." I smiled up at him, "Cool, what position?" "Center guard." I nodded, "I would have pegged you for a halfback or fullback." "Well, that's the position I feel more comfortable in. Coach thought I would do better as center guard." "Then that coach is an idiot." "Hey!" Arnold, Gerald and Will said at the same time. My eyes narrowed, "Let me guess, Arnold is not the quaterback and Gerald is not a wide receiver." "Yeah, how did you know?" Will asked somewhat amazed. "Arnold, is good at plays and had great leadership skills, add to that a level-head and doesn't crack under pressure. Gerald has always been a great catcher and runner and probably knows Arnold the best, and can tell what Arnold may be thinking. And those were the positions that they used to play when we were little."

Soon our food was served and a bit later Will's shift ended where he decided to join us. Although we couldn't talk about the past, it was nice just to talk about sports. Phoebe seemed a little bored after awhile, a football conversation would bore any girl to death.

A honk sounded from outside, "That's my mom. Well this was fun, hit me up any Sunday, we can hang or something." Will said to Gerald and Arnold as they said goodbye. "And you Miss Gabbee, I expect a call from you." He said as he gave me a napkin with his phone number and walked out the door.

"Well, that was unexpected." Phoebe said as she snatched the napkin away. "What was?" I asked slightly confused as we left the restaurant. "That Will gave you his number." Phoebe added. I shrugged. "Its not like he asked me out on a date." I said as unlocked the car. "Will seemed cool, I could see us being friends." I said as we drove off. The rest of the ride went by too silently and I dropped Phoebe and Gerald off.

Not until I was parked in front of the house did I get the courage to ask Arnold what was wrong. "Nothing, Helga. Sorry, I mean Gabbee." I knew that something was bothering him and it bothered me that he didn't say anything. "Ok." I said as I got out of the car and started walking to my house. "Wait!" I turned around. "I don't want you to be mad at me. Honestly, there is nothing wrong. I think that the day just got to me." I nodded, "Well, news like mine would probably have caused anyone to pass out from shock." He nodded. "Goodnight, Arnold." I said as I started to open the door. "Goodnight, _Helga,_" he said my name softly. He said it so softly, so tenderly. He said it as it wore something precious, that should only be talked about in hushed voices. He said my name as if he loved me, the same way that I imagine. And I walked inside, firmly closing the door behind me, trying to ignore my pounding heart.

#

I was seething insideand of course me being the nice guy that I am, I refused to let it show that it bothered me. I could not believe how Will just wormed his way into our dinner, how he kept talking to Helga, especially when he gave her his number. Will is a teammate, a friend, but we just hang at school. And then there was Helga, how she kept talking about football, actually talking about plays and teams. _I missed her, _I realized at that moment.

She knows me too well too, calling me out on my odd behavior, luckily I could blame it on the long day. Saying goodnight to Helga, I walked back to my house and made it up to my room. I kicked off my shoes, not bothering to change, I fell on my pillow and fell fast asleep.

The next morning I woke up well rested, brushed my teeth and changed before I joined my parents downstairs. "Morning." I said as I grabbed a bowl for my cereal. "Good morning Arnold." My dad said as my mom handed me a cup of orange juice. "Well, don't you look well rested." I nodded. "Yup, got a full eight hours of sleep." I said. Dad nodded. "Any big plans for today?" Mom asked as she sat down with her coffee. "None. Just going to play a game with the guys later. I don't have work until Wednesday." "Ok. Well, we're going to clean out the basement, can you help?" I nodded. "Yeah." I said putting my bowl in the sink and followed dad to the basement.

"Whoa, Dad you've been busy." My dad said as we walked in. The back wall had been cleared out and two large boxes of trash laid against the staircase. "Yes, son, your mother wants to make the basement her art studio/dojo." I laughed at my dads expression. "Your kidding?" He asked. Grandpa and I laughed, "Dad, what Grandma wants..." "Pookie gets." Grandpa Phil finished for me. Grabbing one of the boxes I made my way upstairs. In the last few years, Grandma Gertie was less eccentric, yet full of life, never making a day at the house dull. She still confused the holidays, but thanksgiving wouldn't be thanksgiving without firecrackers.

My mom, who was washing the dishes, saw that I had the large box and rushed to open the front door. "Thanks, mom." I said over my shoulder. I dropped the heavy box and dusted my pants before I made my way back to the house. That is until I heard a "Kimba!" I turned to see my grandma running full speed towards me, quickly moving off the sidewalk, I lost my balance and I fell on top of the box. "Sorry, Kimba!" She said as she made her way inside the house.

Dusting myself off again, I started, yet again, to make my way to the house. "Arnold!" _Not again. _I thought as I turned around. This time it was Helga running up to me, much slower than my grandma. She stopped in front of me, "Did..did..did your grandma..come this way?" She said between breaths. "Ah, yea. She's inside." She smiled on me before she dropped to the floor. "Oh, good." She sat and stretched her legs. "Geez, can that women run!" She stretched her left leg a bit, wincing. "Cramp?" I asked as I helped her up. "Mhhmm. I was going to jog around the neighborhood, your grandma joined and I told her that we could run at her pace. Then she broke into this crazy smile and she shot down the street like a rocket-ship. I didn't want to lose her so I chased after her."

I laughed at her. "Never again Arnold. Never again." She said as she sat on the stoop. Grandma Gertie came out with a large cup of water. "Here ya go Eleanor." Looking extremely grateful for the beverage she took it. "For an old lady, you sure are in shape." Helga told my grandmother. She laughed, "Age is only a number. Now, dear Eleanor, let me now if you want to do this again." Helga's eyes got wide. "Not anytime soon." Grandma only laughed and went back in.

"So, any plans today?" I asked her. "Not really. I have to finish unpacking and today my parents were supposed to come back, but they called that they had some paperwork to finish up. And you?" "Just cleaning out the basement." "Look at us, spending our summer vacation cleaning. Well, since your out, I'll call Phoebe. Maybe I can hang out with her." I laughed at her. "Ah, I see. You just wanted to hang with me to get out of packing." She stuck her tongue out at me. "Well, cleaning is no fun. And I would help you, but I'm all sweaty." She said moving closer to her house. "Whatever you say. I see what kind of friend you are!" She smiled. "Yeah, but Phoebe is my best friend." I smiled out at her. "Fine! But come over for lunch around two!" "Yeah, yeah," She said as she walked into her house.

I walked back inside and saw that my mom was busy cleaning. "Mom, I invited Helga over for lunch." "That's wonderful dear. Are her parents coming over to?" I shook my head no, "They had something to take care of. And Grandma?" "She's downstairs, now rush down before your father thinks that you ditched him." I laughed at that.

A few hours later, the basement was spotless and just in time for lunch. I was throwing the last of trash-bag when Gerald pulled up in his red car. "Hey, man!" He said as we made our signature handshake. "Whats up Gerald?" "Nothing much, Phoebe is out, so I stayed at home." "How come you always show up after the heavy work is over?" He shrugged, "Good looks? Well, I'll see you later man, I have to take Lee to her ballet class." "Isn't her recital soon?" "Yeah. She's going to drive me even more crazy, but at least she's not pulling pranks. I just stopped by to ask you if you needed a ride to the field later." "Yeah, pick me up at 5?" "I might be a little late, Lee usually makes me drive her to Jumba Juice." "The things that a brother does for his sister. Say hi to Timberly for me." Saying bye, I walked back in. "Hey Shortman, can you tell the little lady that lunch is about ready."

I was about to knock when the door flew up. Griffin was there with another man, they shook hands and the man excused himself. "Her Arnold." "Hey Griffin. Is Gabbee here?" Calling her Gabbee sounded so off. "I think she's in her room. I was talking to the contractor, so she might have left. But you can go see if she's here." He said as he disappeared down the hallway.

I walked up the stairs and knocked on the door. "Come in." A sweet voice said. Stepping in I saw the room completely different. Her walls were still purple, but there were now filled with posters, paintings, photo frames. She had a red bean bag chair in one corner, her vanity and wardrobe were white and she had a white desk. There were still several boxes around the room, spilling out with clothes. And in the middle of the bed there was a Helga laying on her stomach with her head hanging out. "So you got a lot done." She looked up. "Hey Arnold. Yeah." Then she dropped her head back down.

"Whats wrong?" I said as I fell on the bed next to her. "Nothing." She said to the floor. "So what are you so bummed about." Her body moved and I assumed that she was shrugging. "Hel-ga. Are you going to tell me." She shook her head and her hair flew around, then she sat up. I moved myself and we we're face to face. "You know that—since I moved—ugh—did I—never mind." "Your not making any sense." She laughed, "I know! Since I moved back, I thought things were going to be the same, you know minus the bully that I was; that Phoebe and I were going to pick up our friendship where we left off and that everything was going to stay the same. And guess what Arnold, things did change. We grew up and we grew without each other, so of course she has another best-friend."

"Of course we grew up, but we're mostly the same, add a little more responsibility and that we already went through puberty, but overall the same. Now what is this about Phoebe?"

#

I proceeded to tell Arnold about the conversation that I had with Arnold. How I had called Phoebe this morning and she said that she had plans with Lila. Apparently, she and Miss Perfect had become the ever so of best friends, gag! I had stopped disliking Lila long ago, but I couldn't ignore the feeling of melancholy that I felt. I was forced to listen on and on about how they had plans to go to the salon and we're having a spa day. And apparently there was a sleep over going at Rhonda's tonight. But I didn't tell this to Arnold, instead I said "She's hanging out with Lila and then she has to go to a sleepover at Rhonda's. I never realized how much I missed everyone until I got back. In New Sindo, I was always doing something and I guess that kept my mind busy."

"C'mon, get up." I looked at him. "Why?" I said skeptically. "Get up," he said holding up his hand. I took it and he helped me up. "So what's going on?" "This is what you need." And before I could ask what he meant, he had his arms around me and was hugging me. I felt my legs go a bit weak before I put my arms around him. He was so broad now. And tall, I realized as I saw that I only reached up to his neck. "What are you doing?" I whispered. His hold became a little tighter. "I'm comforting you." I smiled up to his neck. _Sweet sweet Arnold, how little __you__ have changed._ We remained like this for a few more minutes. "Everything is going to be okay, we just need a little time to get used to you being back." He said rubbing my shoulders. We remained like that for a few moments and then his stomach grumbled.

We pulled apart, "Let's go feed that stomach of yours before it decides to eat itself." He laughed and the strange atmosphere that we had created disappeared as we made our way downstairs. My sister saw us and walked up to us. "Mom called, were driving up to Jersey. There's some paperwork that I need to sign. Well be gone the night. I talked to Gertie, so you can stay next door for the night. Its probably better since there is _no _food here. I can not wait until this moving business is over. So, pack a overnight bag and I'll call you later." She hugged me, "Don't forget to lock up. Bye!" and threw the keys to me, her diaper bag bouncing as she flew out the door.

"Well, that wasn't weird." Arnold said as we walked next door. "Ha! That's a normal occurrence, at our old place we we're never at home. And with the new remodeling here I am going to spend as much time away as I can possibly can."

We walked to the kitchen as Stella was setting the last plate. "Take a minute longer and we would have started without you." Miles said as we washed our hands and sat down. We ate a large meal of potato salad, mac and cheese, chicken wings, sausage, and mixed green salad. "Olga said that you were staying over." I nodded at Gertie. "Yeah, something about going to Jersey to sign some paperwork. I hope that my family and I aren't imposing too much." Everyone laughed at that. "Of course your not. It's almost like having a family visiting." Grandpa Phil said.

Lunch went by fast, Stella is almost done with her fiction book which will be published in January and Miles is getting ready for his college course in August. Gertie is going to have some kind of studio in the basement and Grandpa is remodeling another green packard. After eating I helped Stella with the dishes as Miles and Arnold fought for who gets to shower first. (Even though there were now more than one bathroom now.)

Freshly showered, Arnold appeared and sat on the couch with me. "So." I looked up at him, somehow all the adults had left. "Want to play a game with the guys later." I pursed my lips thinking about it. "Yeah, I think its time to let the guys in. I think that they would probably be more understanding than the girls. Especially after I kick their asses." He smiled brightly at me, "In that case I want you in my team." For the next few hours we watched reruns of the Jersey Shore, laughing at their stupid ways. Seeing that it was almost five, I pulled myself away from Arnold's hold and went next door to change into something more comfortable.

Changing into black fitted capris and a slightly oversized white v-neck shirt, I grabbed my black and pink Adidas. I walked outside and saw that Arnold was wearing a blue tshirt and black basketball shorts with black Adidas. Gerald pulled up, "This game is going to be epic." He said as I slid in the back seat. I smiled, "I am so glad that I can entertain you Gerald. Hey, Arnold, Gerald can be with the opposite team." Arnold snickered, "Yeah, its going to epic." "Ah, man," Gerald said, "Me and my big mouth!"

**Authors Note: **_Hey Readers! Soo sorry for the lateness of this chapter, life got in the way. Hope that you enjoyed it. Don't forget to review. Its that little button at the bottom of the page. :D_


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight: The Game

After kicking out Gerald out of our team I soon saw that we were coming up on Gerald Field. I asked Gerald if they still played baseball games there. "Not so much anymore, the younger kids kinda took over it." As we passed the lot, I saw it filled with young kids. "At least they take well care of it." "That they do," Gerald said as we drove a few more minutes passed the high school and to Tina Park.

Gerald quickly pulled into the parking space and we jumped out of the car, "It seems that everyone is here." Arnold said as he surveyed the parking lot and we made our way to the basketball courts. "See, Eugene drives the yellow moped, Stinky that green mustang, Harold that beige truck, Thad drives the white Prius, Sid drives the black motorcycle, Brainy drives a silver Kia, and Jason just got his Jeep."

I nodded, I had seen the moped, the motorcycle and a jeep, "But whose Jason and Thad?" Gerald laughed, "Jason was Chocolate Boy and Curly now goes by Thad...Thaddeah...ah, Thad." I laughed, "You mean Thaddeus Gammelthorpe, it's not that hard to say."

Gerald gave me a wounded look, "Shut up Miss Anonymous poet." Before I could question how he found out, Arnold interrupted. "So how do you want to be introduced." I shrugged, "Gabs for now. I don't want them to blame the shock of their loss by my reappearance. Afterward we can tell them."

Arnold only snickered as Gerald made a face. "I hate you guys. But really can I be on your team?"

Arnold and I shared a look. "Fine. But only because you begged." I said smiling up at the tall black boy.

"Arnold! Gerald!" A voice yelled from behind as we walked around the last bend to get to the basketball court. We all turned to see a guy walking behind us.

"Hey man." Gerald said as they gave each other a fist pump. "Man, where have you been hiding." The dirty blonde kid laughed, "Just out of town, my cousin was getting married and then we drove up to Canada to see an uncle, just got back today. But I made it to our weekly game. So, hows your summer been?"

Gerald smiled, "Same old." Arnold shrugged, "Just stayed in town. Oh and this is Gabbee, she's ah, new and my neighbor." The kid gave me a once over, "I'm Ed. But mostly everyone calls me Brainy. Hey, don't I know you?"

_Crap! I forgot all about Brainy's "tendencies". _"Ah no, I don't think so." He looked at me again. "Hmm. I never forget a face, but your too pretty so I'll let it slide." I almost laughed in his face and rolled my eyes instead.

Brainy had indeed changed, his Bart Simpson hair was gone and replaced with beautiful dirty blonde hair, his glasses were now gone and his blue eyes sparkled, he seemed fit and muscular, at least from what I could tell from the tight shirt that showcased his abs. He was good-looking and if I were any other girl I probably be tempted to like-like him.

Half a minute passed before Brainy asked, "But, really have we met?" Arnold tried to keep his laughter in, while Gerald did a horrible job at it. At least someone found my annoyance entertaining. For the rest of the walk I kept being pestered by Brainy, _Are you sure I don't know you? Are you sure you never seen me? Have you been on TV?_ And all the while the answer was a no.

We finally made it to the basketball courts and there were a bunch of guys there, and after saying a 'no' to Brainy's fifteenth question, there was a bunch of "oohs". I looked up and about seven guys where hanging around the benches.

A muscular and wide teen laughed, "Did Brains finally get rejected?" He said as he made his way towards us. I raised an eyebrow. Wait, what? Brainy put an arm around my shoulder, "Of course not, Harold. Contrary to popular belief, I don't ask every girl out." _Is Brainy some type of playboy? This is too weird._

"Well, you could have fooled me." Harold said as he bend down to tie his shoes. _Huh, so this is Harold, _I thought as I shrugged Brainy's arm hadn't changed much, he was still big, not fat, but muscular. He had his hair cut short and was wearing a white t-shirt and blue basketball shorts. He walked passed us to greet Gerald and Arnold.

Everyone was kinda minding their own business, and I took the opportunity to survey my old classmates. A guy with bright orange hair was carefully tying his shoes, that must be Eugene; he was talking with a black haired guy who was munching on a radish, that mush be Jason. Another two were off to the side, a tall boy with a large nose and a guy with a green cap on, those must be Stinky and Sid.

Everyone was waiting around until a guy ran up to us carrying a basketball over his head. "Gather cavemen, for I have freed the zoo animals and created fire!" And that must be Curly, I mean Thad. The guy still had black hair, it was longer and he no longer wore red glasses. And he was kinda cute, actually all of my classmates were good-looking.

"Why don't you just make it simple and just say that you brought the basketball?" Jason said from his post by the bench. "Because that's no fun. Now gather neanderthals, for we will be divided into four versus five."

I thought about what he said for half a second, first Harold ignores me and now this kid. Am I invisible or something? Lucky Arnold spoke up, "Actually, Gabbee here will be joining us." All of a sudden everyone looked at us.

"Really?" Eugene asked skeptically.

"Yeah. I want to play." I said, "Is that going to be a problem?"

"Are you sure you don't want to jog or bike, or do something less physical?" Sid said.

"No, I want to play basketball." What is it with them not wanting me to play?

Thad took a step closer to me and spoke to the crowd. "Guys, if the chick wants to run with wolves, I say we let her. You never know, she _might _be good."

I grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. "Listen bud, I can play basketball and I don't know what kind of "chicks" you hang out with, but this girl is going to beat your ass up and down the court."

He merely raised an eyebrow. "We'll see. But things tend to get kind off rough."

I rolled my eyes, "Whatever. Spit the teams already."

A few minutes later Arnold, Gerald, Brainy, and Eugene were in my team, while Sid, Stinky, Curly, Harold and Jason where on the opposing teams. And while Arnold was talking to Sid and Stinky, Brainy put his arm around my shoulder. We decided that first to thirty wins.

"Hon, are you sure you want to play with us?"

I shrugged his arm away, "Yeah."

"Just making sure." He quickly pointed the guys out to me, all of my assumptions were proven correct. "I think that Harold is going to be on your back. Think you can handle him?"

I shrugged, "I'll never know until I try." We quickly got in positions, I was point guard, Gerald as center, Arnold as a shooting guard, Brainy as a power forward and Eugene as a small forward.

Indeed, Harold was on my back. I barely had any space to dribble and after I passed the ball to Eugene, the big lug tripped me. Dusting myself off, I got back in. And even though the guy was playing completely unfair, I refuse to call him on it. Besides, we only needed six points to win.

I guess he started to let the pressure of the score get to him, because he started messing too much with me. He pushed me away, he kept tripping me, and he elbowed me twice in the stomach. After the third time he elbowed me, all my breath left me and I fell to the ground.

"Hey asshole!" I yelled at him as I grabbed the ball and stood up.

He turned back to me, "Did the little girl, hurt herself?"

"No, you tub of lard!" I grabbed him by the collar and pulled him towards me, "Your fat elbow hit me in the gut and if you don't start playing fair Ol' Betsy and the Five Avengers are going to make a reappearance and send you crying back to mommy." I let him go too fast and he lost his balance and fell to the ground.

Harold was on the ground staring up at me with wide eyes, "What did you just say?" He asked quietly.

I was about to repeat myself when I heard heavy breathing behind my neck, "Brainy! You sneaking up behind me was creepy when we were little and its creepy now!"

"Willikers!" Stinky cried.

And not until that moment did I realize that my cover was blown. "Criminy!" I said as I fell to the ground across from Harold.

It was quiet on the court, except for the wheezes coming from Brainy. He decided to lay on the ground and arm covering his face. Eugene was about to say something but, he started coughing when a fly flew into his mouth. Sid was wringing out his cap. Jason kept munching on his radishes, while Curly had a pensive look on his face.

"Is it really you Helga?" Brainy said, his arm still covering his face.

"Yeah," I said quietly. "My mom faked our death and we just moved back."

Gerald, Arnold and I kept an eye on the guys, waiting for their reaction.

Jason spoke up first, "Cool. I'm glad that your alive and back. We all missed you. Can we get back in the game now?"

Eugene nodded. "So, does Phoebe know?"

I nodded, "Yeah."

"Was she mad?"

I shrugged, "Not really. I think she is relieved."

"Well, I would think so. She just got one of her best friends back." Stinky added.

I nodded, agreeing. "Where were you? Under the witness protection program?" Sid asked.

I shook my head. "No, just changed identities, and well faked our deaths." The last part I mumbled. "I think that we might get in trouble for that."

"Well, this put a damper into the game. When we're you going to tell us?" Thad asked.

"After the game. You guys changed a lot."

Harold laughed, "Speak for yourself. You are one beautiful girl." I laughed and bent a knee to stand up. Three hands were hanging in front of me to help me up, Brainy's, Arnold's and Stinky's. I ignored them and shook myself.

"For finding out something like this, you guys are taking it rather well."

They all laughed, Harold put an arm around my shoulder, "Well, that someone has a lot of making up to do. Starting with pizza. And lots of it too." He said wiggling his eyebrows.

"Shut up fat-boy. But I guess your right. Pizza on me."

Everyone hollered their agreement as we made our way back to the parking lot.

_**Author's Note:**__ I don't know how I feel about this chapter. I think things for Helga and Arnold may be going to easy. Well, let me know how you feel about this chapter. Don't forget to review. xxoo Nat_


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine: So, this changes everything.

We had crossed the parking lot and onto the next block to get us some pizza. And it was well, weird. I thought that I could have kept my secret for a lot longer, but I barely lasted forty-eight hours before half of PS 118 found out the truth. That and well, they weren't mad at me. I mean, I've been waiting for the last five years to come back and everyones reaction. I imagined all kind of crazy scenarios, not limited to a crazy mob chasing us out of town and movie producers approaching me for the movie rights. But none of that happened. What happened was us having fun at the pizza parlor. I followed them into a large booth towards the back as the server walked away after giving a hug to Ed. We all settled into the booth, Jason and Eugene sat at one corner, Thad next to Eugene, with Harold on his other side. Ed sat next to Jason, Stinky in front of Thad. Sid was next to Stinky. Arnold was on my right and Gerard in front of him. I was at the other end, my back facing the door. Just then the waitress came back with a tray full of drinks. She passed out two Sprites to Thad and Eugene, while the rest took some Cokes. "Ooh, I'm sorry hon. I didn't see you behind these Behemoths. They practically always order the same thing, like, all the time." I laughed, "No, problem. I'll look at the menu while these guys order." She quickly nodded and made her way down the booth. Thad being a vegetarian and Eugene being lactose-intolerant they had split a large veggie, cheese free pizza. The rest of the guys had ordered three large meat-lovers pizza with extra meat. I choose a small chicken and basil pizza on whole wheat with raspberry iced tea. And trust me, the guys had all stopped their conversation to stare at me. "What?" I asked wiping my face and giving back the menu to the waitress. "Relax, boo. They just don't understand how you could possibly order a pizza with no meat or anything else on the menu." I just rolled my eyes, sharing a smile with the waitress. "Names Gabbee." I said sticking my hand out. She seemed slightly surprised by that, but took my hand in her dainty one. "Sue, With a Z and without the E." I smiled, "Guess I took it, I'm Gabbee with two Es and two Bs." She laughed. "Cool, you new around here?" She asked. "Sort of." I started, but Sid spoke up. "She just moved back after five years. Super happy to have this girl back." "Heck yeah!" Harold called out. "The only girl who can keep up with the Wolfs." Thad said just loud enough. I smirked, "More like I let you keep up." Stinky laughed pointing at Thad, "Man, she got you."

Thad rolled his eyes and pouted and Harold made a move to comfort him only to get a napkin thrown at him. Everyone laughed and conversation broke out again. Zu spoke up, "Looked like you wore missed." I gave her a bright smile as she walked away to put in our orders. The rest of our time at the table was split by random topics, some basketball, sports, cars, motorbikes, summer jobs and how they spending the last two weeks of summer. I was too engrossed in my pizza to add to the conversation. So, I ended up being the tie-breaker in practically everything. From who should have won last saturday baseball game to who was the best superhero. The last one nobody won. We were waiting on our chocolate pizza dessert and talking about Shawn of the Dead when a squad of girls appeared. In front of me. "Um, can I help you?" I asked as they glared at me. _What is wrong with them? Although, they look kinda familiar. Wait, is that Phoebe?_ "Pheebs?" I asked. "She doesn't want to talk to you." The one with the black hair asked. "She doesn't want to talk to backstabbers like you." The one with the orange hair added. I stood up, _this is not good. _"Look, I don't know what problem you wannabe cheerleaders have with me, but you can shove it where the sun don't shine, because I don't have time for this bullshit. And last time I spoke to Phoebe she still had her tongue." I shoved my way between the two girls and towards Phoebe. _What the hell is going on? _"Now, Phoebe what the heck did I do." "She doesn't want to talk to you!" A tan blonde said trying to push me away. I quickly side-stepped away and she lost her balance. "I got that. Now, what gives you the right to come and talk to me like I just murdered your puppy?" I said glaring at the four girls. "Because you practically did, Hel-ga." The brunette said. And I was momentarily frozen. Rhonda? And then everything clicked into place. Nadine. Sheena. Lila. "You can't just come back, acting like nothing happened while you were de-ad. You can't act like we are still friends." Lila said.

I glared at her. "You know damn well that you and I were never friends." Lila just glared at me, and then smirked. "Be as it may, you were dead and buried and we became Phoebe's friends and she doesn't want anything to do with you. Especially after you tried to take Gerard away from her." Nadine said. "What?" I said. "I would never do something like that." _And just like that, I had fallen into their trap. _"We saw you Hel-ga," Rhonda said and Nadine quickly added, "We saw him holding your hand." "Its not like I kissed the man!" I defended myself. "See, Phoebe! You can't trust her! If she faked her own death, what morals does she have?! She had five years to let someone in Hillwood know that she was alive and kicking, but she decided to stay away and laugh at everyone here in Hillwood! Did you enjoy seeing all of Hillwood morning your passing! How long did you laugh at everyone here?!" Lila screamed at me. As the words settled into the room, I noticed how quiet it had become. And how everyone was staring at us. Nobody making a move. And I practically saw the hateful stare in everyone's face. And I felt _utterly stupid_. _Idiotic. _ I had been to optimistic, thinking—believing—I could come back to Hillwood like nothing had happened. I was not that lucky. And now I was practically hated and this would get around town faster that I could get home.

And it sucked. Forty-eight hours was all it took to come back from the dead, cared about to becoming a pariah. _Must be a world record._ I turned back to the table, and saw that the boys wore looking down towards the table or their gazed fixed somewhere else. None of them made a move to defend me. Not even Arnold. I grabbed a hundred dollar bill from my phone case and slammed it onto the table making a lot of them jump. Still they remain silent. I quickly blinked away the tears before turning to the crowd. I shoved my way through the girls and stopped in front of Phoebe. "Big Bob would have been proud of you." She took a sharp breath, but I continued. "After all, you knew everything he did to me and how much he hated me, for no apparent reason. But I guess, this, _this_ I deserved." Turning to Lila, "Nice job, turning the whole town against me. Should take no more than half an hour to rally the whole neighborhood. Or better yet, did someone start a petition?!" No one said anything. "Thanks, again. For welcoming me with open arms." I said sarcastically, as I stepped outside and made my way down the block. In all the scenarios that I had made in my head, none of them involved my former classmates trying to chase me out of town. "Great way to end the day." I said to myself as I turned down an alley and away from the more frequented streets.


End file.
